Best Value Colleges in New York
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical New York high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 97 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 0.3 years at the fastest to 14.4 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.0 years to repay its net price, 0.2 years faster than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (32) have a median payback of 2.5 years against 3.2 years for the 65 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
CUNY Hunter College and CUNY Bernard M Baruch College share first place at 0.3 years, with United States Merchant Marine Academy next at 0.4 years. Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in New York
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; New York has 97
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 97 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 4-year | 0.3 years | $2,984 | $73,236 | $11,000 | 59% |
| 2 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 4-year | 0.3 years | $3,033 | $82,748 | $11,512 | 72% |
| 3 | United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY Public · 4-year | 0.4 years | $6,174 | $92,950 | $8,833 | 81% |
| 4 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $4,195 | $68,713 | $10,298 | 56% |
| 5 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $3,776 | $67,740 | $11,990 | 56% |
| 6 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $3,203 | $60,020 | $11,000 | 56% |
| 7 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $3,148 | $63,353 | $10,950 | 50% |
| 8 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | 0.5 years | $3,103 | $62,833 | $11,000 | 55% |
| 9 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.1 years | $21,590 | $115,519 | $21,500 | 96% |
| 10 | SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, NY Public · 4-year | 1.3 years | $22,367 | $104,752 | $23,250 | 70% |
| 11 | The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.3 years | $13,269 | $75,729 | $15,000 | 81% |
| 12 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.5 years | $28,690 | $113,372 | $14,000 | 95% |
| 13 | Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY Public · 4-year | 1.5 years | $10,867 | $65,444 | $14,718 | 55% |
| 14 | SUNY Polytechnic Institute Utica, NY Public · 4-year | 1.5 years | $14,164 | $73,730 | $17,250 | 57% |
| 15 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 4-year | 1.6 years | $18,784 | $81,850 | $18,228 | 77% |
| 16 | Molloy University Rockville Centre, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.6 years | $24,347 | $96,058 | $27,000 | 71% |
| 17 | D'Youville University Buffalo, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.7 years | $20,433 | $84,182 | $25,000 | 62% |
| 18 | University of Mount Saint Vincent Bronx, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.8 years | $21,696 | $83,648 | $25,000 | 57% |
| 19 | Utica University Utica, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.8 years | $19,108 | $77,491 | $22,500 | 56% |
| 20 | Binghamton University Vestal, NY Public · 4-year | 1.9 years | $21,620 | $80,304 | $18,500 | 83% |
| 21 | SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury, NY Public · 4-year | 2.0 years | $11,282 | $58,756 | $14,997 | 46% |
| 22 | New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $22,443 | $81,370 | $23,334 | 58% |
| 23 | Mercy University Dobbs Ferry, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.1 years | $14,072 | $62,616 | $19,637 | 47% |
| 24 | Manhattan University Riverdale, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.1 years | $27,256 | $88,328 | $26,000 | 65% |
| 25 | Niagara University Niagara University, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.2 years | $17,248 | $67,652 | $25,475 | 72% |
| 26 | Clarkson University Potsdam, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.2 years | $30,305 | $91,312 | $26,000 | 74% |
| 27 | Daemen University Amherst, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.2 years | $18,693 | $70,310 | $22,091 | 59% |
| 28 | University at Albany Albany, NY Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $17,167 | $66,256 | $19,500 | 63% |
| 29 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $29,278 | $87,197 | $21,000 | 85% |
| 30 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $36,228 | $98,311 | $23,750 | 83% |
| 31 | Wagner College Staten Island, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $28,241 | $85,313 | $25,000 | 67% |
| 32 | University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY Public · 4-year | 2.4 years | $20,995 | $71,430 | $19,000 | 74% |
| 33 | Mount Saint Mary College Newburgh, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.4 years | $25,522 | $77,894 | $26,007 | 66% |
| 34 | Adelphi University Garden City, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $30,783 | $83,002 | $25,000 | 68% |
| 35 | SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, NY Public · 4-year | 2.6 years | $18,211 | $63,560 | $19,500 | 72% |
| 36 | Manhattanville University Purchase, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $20,991 | $68,011 | $25,000 | 56% |
| 37 | Pace University New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $30,892 | $80,804 | $23,250 | 61% |
| 38 | State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY Public · 4-year | 2.7 years | $16,236 | $59,955 | $20,880 | 60% |
| 39 | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, NY Public · 4-year | 2.7 years | $15,016 | $58,372 | $13,750 | 54% |
| 40 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $28,786 | $77,917 | $15,000 | 91% |
| 41 | St. Joseph's University-New York Brooklyn, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $19,035 | $64,336 | $22,000 | 67% |
| 42 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.7 years | $28,985 | $79,130 | $17,000 | 91% |
| 43 | New York University New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $37,050 | $89,427 | $20,500 | 88% |
| 44 | St. John's University-New York Queens, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $29,999 | $77,868 | $25,000 | 67% |
| 45 | SUNY College of Technology at Canton Canton, NY Public · 4-year | 2.8 years | $15,268 | $57,422 | $20,000 | 41% |
| 46 | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.9 years | $34,906 | $84,133 | $26,778 | 70% |
| 47 | Le Moyne College Syracuse, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.9 years | $22,277 | $66,403 | $23,000 | 72% |
| 48 | SUNY Brockport Brockport, NY Public · 4-year | 3.0 years | $16,353 | $57,799 | $20,000 | 56% |
| 49 | State University of New York at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY Public · 4-year | 3.0 years | $17,156 | $58,319 | $21,196 | 59% |
| 50 | Union College Schenectady, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.0 years | $34,561 | $81,583 | $25,337 | 83% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
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Same list in nearby states
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All 219 colleges in New York See the national version of this ranking