Cheapest Colleges in New York
Sticker prices at the 112 four-year colleges we rank in New York run from $895 to $71,845 a year in tuition and fees, a gap of $70,950 between the cheapest school and the most expensive one.
The 35 public colleges here charge a median of $8,625 a year, $1,315 (13%) below the national public median of $9,940. The 72 private nonprofit colleges on the list charge a median of $45,582, above the $39,582 national private median. Sticker price alone rarely settles the cheapest private option, so check the net price column.
United States Merchant Marine Academy ranks first at $895, ahead of CUNY New York City College of Technology ($7,332) and CUNY City College ($7,340).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- 4-year colleges whose main award is the bachelor's degree (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by in-state tuition & fees, 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)
- A reported in-state tuition & fees value (schools without one are not ranked)
- Schools that report no tuition or a $0 price are not ranked
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; New York has 112
- Data period
- In-state tuition and fees: full-time undergraduate sticker price, academic year 2024-25. Some community colleges report the in-district rate.
- Out-of-state tuition and fees: academic year 2024-25. Shown for public colleges only, because private colleges charge everyone the same price.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- 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.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing the top 50 of 112 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY Public · 4-year | $895 | $895 | $6,174 | 81% | 962 |
| 2 | CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | $7,332 | $15,282 | $5,127 | 20% | 13,580 |
| 3 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 4-year | $7,340 | $15,290 | $3,776 | 56% | 12,505 |
| 4 | CUNY Medgar Evers College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | $7,352 | $15,302 | $5,718 | 21% | 3,233 |
| 5 | CUNY York College Jamaica, NY Public · 4-year | $7,358 | $15,308 | $4,456 | 31% | 4,345 |
| 6 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 4-year | $7,382 | $15,332 | $2,984 | 59% | 16,289 |
| 7 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY Public · 4-year | $7,410 | $15,360 | $3,148 | 50% | 10,696 |
| 8 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 4-year | $7,452 | $15,402 | $3,103 | 55% | 10,543 |
| 9 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY Public · 4-year | $7,464 | $15,414 | $3,033 | 72% | 16,154 |
| 10 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY Public · 4-year | $7,470 | $15,420 | $3,203 | 56% | 11,590 |
| 11 | College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY Public · 4-year | $7,490 | $15,440 | $5,579 | 33% | 9,657 |
| 12 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY Public · 4-year | $7,538 | $15,488 | $4,195 | 56% | 12,550 |
| 13 | Empire State University Saratoga Springs, NY Public · 4-year | $7,648 | $17,558 | $11,676 | 34% | 7,585 |
| 14 | Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitz Brooklyn, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $8,400 | — | $21,437 | 4% | 863 |
| 15 | SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury, NY Public · 4-year | $8,422 | $18,842 | $11,282 | 46% | 4,162 |
| 16 | SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo, NY Public · 4-year | $8,533 | $19,653 | $11,346 | 35% | 5,097 |
| 17 | State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY Public · 4-year | $8,572 | $18,822 | $18,809 | 70% | 6,086 |
| 18 | SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, NY Public · 4-year | $8,589 | $19,159 | $22,367 | 70% | 1,285 |
| 19 | SUNY Polytechnic Institute Utica, NY Public · 4-year | $8,625 | $21,215 | $14,164 | 57% | 1,849 |
| 20 | Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, NY Public · 4-year | $8,626 | $18,536 | $10,867 | 55% | 9,552 |
| 21 | SUNY College of Technology at Canton Canton, NY Public · 4-year | $8,742 | $13,572 | $15,268 | 41% | 2,741 |
| 22 | SUNY Brockport Brockport, NY Public · 4-year | $8,752 | $15,822 | $16,353 | 56% | 5,784 |
| 23 | SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill Cobleskill, NY Public · 4-year | $8,768 | $18,678 | $18,701 | 42% | 1,904 |
| 24 | SUNY College at Potsdam Potsdam, NY Public · 4-year | $8,768 | $18,678 | $13,624 | 47% | 1,823 |
| 25 | State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY Public · 4-year | $8,825 | $18,735 | $16,236 | 60% | 5,473 |
| 26 | SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY Public · 4-year | $8,831 | $19,781 | $19,158 | 70% | 4,643 |
| 27 | SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, NY Public · 4-year | $8,831 | $19,771 | $15,897 | 52% | 2,755 |
| 28 | State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, NY Public · 4-year | $8,874 | $18,784 | $22,345 | 68% | 5,901 |
| 29 | SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY Public · 4-year | $8,953 | $19,203 | $18,913 | 62% | 3,197 |
| 30 | SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, NY Public · 4-year | $8,999 | $19,569 | $18,211 | 72% | 3,869 |
| 31 | State University of New York at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY Public · 4-year | $9,035 | $18,945 | $17,156 | 59% | 3,769 |
| 32 | SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, NY Public · 4-year | $9,303 | $22,263 | $18,952 | 68% | 1,839 |
| 33 | Binghamton University Vestal, NY Public · 4-year | $10,567 | $30,447 | $21,620 | 83% | 14,655 |
| 34 | University at Albany Albany, NY Public · 4-year | $10,866 | $31,256 | $17,167 | 63% | 12,564 |
| 35 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 4-year | $10,931 | $32,741 | $18,784 | 77% | 18,101 |
| 36 | University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY Public · 4-year | $10,936 | $31,536 | $20,995 | 74% | 20,112 |
| 37 | Yeshivath Viznitz Monsey, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $12,000 | — | $8,929 | 69% | 1,159 |
| 38 | Be'er Yaakov Talmudic Seminary Spring Valley, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $12,300 | — | $4,543 | 56% | 765 |
| 39 | Talmudical Seminary of Bobov Brooklyn, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $13,200 | — | $2,840 | 41% | 602 |
| 40 | United Talmudical Seminary Brooklyn, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $15,000 | — | $6,640 | 58% | 2,241 |
| 41 | Uta Mesivta of Kiryas Joel Monroe, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $16,000 | — | $4,156 | 74% | 2,957 |
| 42 | Houghton University Houghton, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $18,430 | — | $20,519 | 65% | 753 |
| 43 | Touro University New York, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,450 | — | $29,627 | 68% | 4,040 |
| 44 | Mercy University Dobbs Ferry, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $22,880 | — | $14,072 | 47% | 5,735 |
| 45 | The College of Westchester White Plains, NY For-profit · 4-year | $25,191 | — | $16,296 | 35% | 759 |
| 46 | Utica University Utica, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $26,930 | — | $19,108 | 56% | 2,278 |
| 47 | Villa Maria College Buffalo, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,670 | — | $13,494 | 31% | 603 |
| 48 | St. Francis College Brooklyn, NY Private nonprofit · 4-year | $28,775 | — | $18,129 | 54% | 1,684 |
| 49 | Berkeley College-New York New York, NY For-profit · 4-year | $29,800 | — | $34,124 | 42% | 1,449 |
| 50 | Five Towns College Dix Hills, NY For-profit · 4-year | $30,250 | — | $22,992 | 52% | 547 |
How to compare these colleges
Start with the net price column rather than the sticker price. Net price is the average a student who receives aid pays after grants and scholarships, so a school that ranks lower here can still be the cheaper choice for your family. The out-of-state column applies only if you are not a legal resident of New York, and only public colleges charge a separate rate.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for New York
Cheap colleges in New York for out-of-state students
74 schools
Community colleges in New York
39 schools
Best value colleges in New York
97 schools
Highest graduate earnings in New York
124 schools
Most affordable private colleges in New York
78 schools
Same list in nearby states
Cheapest colleges in Pennsylvania
83 schools
Cheapest colleges in Massachusetts
59 schools
Cheapest colleges in New Jersey
24 schools
All 219 colleges in New York See the national version of this ranking