Where to Start Looking to Find a College in New York

Families interested in New York colleges should start with the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC). The “Pay for College” section offers detailed information on financial aid programs, a list of state scholarships, and how to compare financial aid award letters. It explains the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) which can provide an additional $5000 a year to qualified students. You can also view a video on completing the FAFSA

The website links to the “Go College New York” website also sponsored by HESC. This is more of the common one-stop shopping website. It doesn’t bother with its own college search engine, it just sends you to the College Navigator website. Users will find the usual checklist for high school students by year. There is a college fair calendar and a college planning worksheet. Students can watch a series of videos comparing two students, one who goes to college, one who doesn’t.

Students interested in transferring from a community college to a State University of New York school should visit SUNY’s course equivalencies page. Otherwise, they should check with the schools they are interested in transferring to for more information. If you’re looking for help in completing the FAFSA, College Goal NY offers help as part of the College Goal Sunday program.

Some Numbers to Help You Find a College

There are 124 four-year New York colleges with 500 or more full-time undergraduates.  Unlike other states, a slight majority (51.4%)of the 539,582 full-time students attend the state’s 84 private colleges compared to the 40 public institutions (48.6%).

The average four-year graduation rate for private New York colleges is 49.2% and the five-year rate for public-institutions is 49.4%. A total of 37 schools meet the DIY College Rankings 50-50 profile requirements.

The average SAT Critical Reading score for college-bound seniors in New York was 488 and the math scores was 502. The 75th percentile scores were 560 and 590 respectively. A total of 54 colleges had 75th percentile scores were equal to or higher in both categories.

The top 20 colleges SAT test takers in New York applied to:

• SUNY University at Stony Brook
• SUNY University at Binghamton
• SUNY University at Buffalo
• SUNY University at Albany
• SUNY College at New Paltz
• Fordham University
• Cornell University
• St. John’s University
• New York University
• City University of New York: Hunter College
• SUNY College at Oneonta
• Syracuse University
• Boston University
• SUNY College at Cortland
• SUNY College at Geneseo
• Hofstra University
• Northeastern University
• SUNY College at Oswego
• SUNY College at Buffalo
• City University of New York: Baruch College

New York Colleges Conferences and Divisions

List of New York Colleges

In the following table, the four-year graduation rate is used for private colleges and the five-year rate for public colleges. The data are based on the data available from IPEDS in December of 2014 which are available on the DIY College Search spreadsheet.

New York Colleges with Test Scores and Graduation Rates
(download PDF for a limited time)

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