Best Small Colleges in New York 2023

Published: Mar 22, 2021
Updated: Sep 8, 2023

Small colleges in New York are a great option for students interested in a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Whether the focus is on the technical or on the liberal arts, small colleges give you the chance to pursue a well-rounded education while working closely with classmates and professors in a dynamic community atmosphere.

Hartwick College 96%
Iona University 93%
Niagara University 92%
Siena College 83%
Manhattanville College 83%
Alfred State College 82%
Wagner College 82%
Canisius University 81%
Houghton University 79%
St. Bonaventure University 78%

Alfred State College 17 to 1
Iona University 15 to 1
Wagner College 15 to 1
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry 14 to 1
Clarkson University 13 to 1
Siena College 13 to 1
United States Merchant Marine Academy 13 to 1
Le Moyne College 13 to 1
St. Bonaventure University 12 to 1
State University of New York at Purchase 12 to 1

Vassar College $62,870
Colgate University $61,966
Union College, New York $61,659
Skidmore College $60,302
Hobart and William Smith Colleges $60,240
St. Lawrence University $60,220
Hamilton College $59,970
Barnard College $59,687
Sarah Lawrence College $59,470
Bard College $57,968

Vassar College $61,940
Colgate University $61,594
Cooper Union $38,038
Bard College $37,549
Clarkson University $35,712
Yeshiva University $34,800
Sarah Lawrence College $32,284
Siena College $28,000
Iona University $22,752
Wagner College $22,590

Canisius University
St. John Fisher University
Iona University
Alfred State College
Houghton University
Siena College
Hartwick College
Le Moyne College
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
St. Bonaventure University

Barnard College 11%
Hamilton College 14%
Cooper Union 15%
Colgate University 17%
Vassar College 20%
United States Merchant Marine Academy 25%
Skidmore College 31%
Union College, New York 47%
St. Lawrence University 57%
Sarah Lawrence College 58%

Yeshiva University 7 to 1
Cooper Union 8 to 1
Vassar College 8 to 1
Skidmore College 8 to 1
Hobart and William Smith Colleges 9 to 1
Hamilton College 9 to 1
Colgate University 9 to 1
Union College, New York 9 to 1
Bard College 9 to 1
Barnard College 9 to 1

United States Merchant Marine Academy $780
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry $7,070
State University of New York at Purchase $7,070
Alfred State College $7,070
Houghton University $16,446
Canisius University $30,910
Alfred University $32,664
Niagara University $35,980
St. John Fisher University $36,352
Le Moyne College $36,610

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry $11,310
State University of New York at Purchase $11,310
Niagara University $13,950
Houghton University $14,125
St. Bonaventure University $14,382
Hobart and William Smith Colleges $14,748
Canisius University $15,120
Le Moyne College $17,220
Manhattanville College $17,550
St. John Fisher University $18,054

Table of Contents

Colleges and Universities in New York

On average, tuition at New York’s higher education institutes comes in well-below the national average at about $7,900. Students have nearly 80 public school options to choose from, ranging in fees from $1,000 at the United States Merchant Marine Academy up to $10,000 at the University at Buffalo, the largest public university. However, some of the state’s private schools, such as New York University (NYU), charge tuition fees at a much higher cost.

Find college admissions consultants in your state.

Although tuition fees at NYU average $52,000, students who attend this school have access to some of the best programs in fields like literature, business, medicine, communications, and law. The school also boasts famous alumni like Whoopi Goldberg and Jonas Salk. New York also offers close to 40 religiously affiliated schools. Students can expect to pay a wide range of tuition costs at these schools, but have the option to major in fields like social work, law, religious studies, business, and nursing.

They say New York is a place where dreams come true. Here, fashion, culture, food, business, art, and many languages comfortably coexist. While The Empire State’s metropolitan landmarks, like the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, are noteworthy, many forget New York also offers access to the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean, and countless cozy cabins tucked away in the verdant Catskills Mountains. Additionally, New York is home to over 200 colleges and universities, making it easy for students to dream big while earning their degrees.

Explore some of the top programs New York higher education institutes have to offer, and make your educational and personal dreams come true.

What are New York’s Colleges & Universities?

New York’s Best Overall

The following list of the best small colleges and universities in New York is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). We’ve identified 73 small colleges in New York. The list below of the 30 best small colleges in New York. To be included schools must fully accredited, and must have student body populations below 5,000 students.

How do we determine New York's best small colleges and universities?

Methodology

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.

Best Small Colleges in New York 2022

New York’s Best Small College in Your Area of Interest

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.

Best Small Colleges in New York 2023

10 Best Small Colleges in New York 2022

Colleges and Universities in New York

What are New York’s Colleges & Universities?

Best Small Colleges in New York 2022

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State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

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Houghton University’s Online Degrees

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Alfred State College’s Online Degrees

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New York’s Best Small College in Your Area of Interest