Five New York colleges and universities rank among the top 50 in the country, according to a newWallethub study.
College can help students prepare for future careers, but tuition and living expenses can add up quickly. According to WalletHub, tuition, room and board at a four-year school cost an average of $31,000 to $65,000 per year.
To identify the top-performing schools, WalletHub compared 738 colleges and universities nationwide across 30 measures, including student-faculty ratios, graduation rates and median salaries after graduation. The study grouped those measures into seven categories, including student selectivity, cost and financing, and career outcomes.
Here's how New York's colleges and universities ranked.
5 New York colleges rank among the nation's top 50
Five New York institutions
placed among the top 50 colleges and universities in WalletHub's national ranking.
Columbia University
Columbia ranked No. 18 nationally, placing in the 98th percentile with an overall score of 75.94. It ranked No. 7 in student selectivity, No. 706 in cost and financing, No. 44 in faculty resources, No. 105 in campus safety, No. 3 in campus experience, No. 7 in educational outcomes and No. 44 in career outcomes.
Cornell University
Cornell ranked No. 31 nationally, placing in the 96th percentile with an overall score of 73.66. It ranked No. 25 in student selectivity, No. 709 in cost and financing, No. 87 in faculty resources, No. 224 in campus safety, No. 213 in campus experience, No. 15 in educational outcomes and No. 19 in career outcomes.
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Cooper Union ranked No. 32 nationally, placing in the 96th percentile with an overall score of 73.65. It ranked No. 58 in student selectivity, No. 313 in cost and financing, No. 86 in faculty resources, No. 1 in campus safety, No. 677 in campus experience, No. 132 in educational outcomes and No. 80 in career outcomes.
Hamilton College
Hamilton ranked No. 34 nationally, placing in the 95th percentile with an overall score of 73.52. It ranked No. 35 in student selectivity, No. 645 in cost and financing, No. 93 in faculty resources, No. 369 in campus safety, No. 79 in campus experience, No. 43 in educational outcomes and No. 69 in career outcomes.
Barnard College
Barnard ranked No. 40 nationally, placing in the 95th percentile with an overall score of 72.61. It ranked No. 21 in student selectivity, No. 692 in cost and financing, No. 139 in faculty resources, No. 430 in campus safety, No. 62 in campus experience, No. 34 in educational outcomes and No. 92 in career outcomes.
Where other New York colleges ranked
Several other New York institutions also placed among the nation's top 100 colleges and universities, according to WalletHub.
- Vassar College: No. 52, 93rd percentile
- New York University: No. 55, 93rd percentile
- Colgate University: No. 59, 92nd percentile
- University of Rochester: No. 70, 91st percentile
- Binghamton University-SUNY: No. 79, 89th percentile
- Union College: No. 84, 89th percentile
- St. Lawrence University: No. 93, 87th percentile
- Stony Brook University-SUNY: No. 96, 87th percentile
- Yeshiva University: No. 98, 87th percentile
- CUNY Baruch College: No. 99, 87th percentile
WalletHub's top 10 colleges and universities in the U.S.
WalletHub's national rankings placed these institutions in the top 10:
- Princeton University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Yale University
- California Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Northwestern University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Stanford University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
How WalletHub ranked colleges and universities
WalletHub compared 738 colleges and universities across seven categories: student selectivity, cost and financing, faculty resources, campus safety, campus experience, educational outcomes and career outcomes.
The categories included 30 measures designed to evaluate schools' academic environments, costs, student experiences and graduates' career prospects.
Student selectivity included admission rates, ACT and SAT scores at the 25th and 75th percentiles, and the share of freshmen who ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class.
Cost and financing included net cost, the availability of student employment services and student loan debt.
Faculty resources included student-faculty ratios, average class sizes, the share of full-time professors and faculty members, and faculty salaries.
Campus safety included on-campus arrests and crime.
Campus experience included the share of international students, the percentage of students living on campus, NCAA membership, study-abroad opportunities, gender and racial diversity, average earnings from on-campus employment, and the availability of placement services for graduates.
Educational outcomes included retention rates, graduation rates and credentials awarded per undergraduate enrollment.
Career outcomes included return on educational investment, the share of graduates offered full-time employment within six months, median salaries after attendance, the share of former students who out-earned high school graduates, the share of students reducing their debt, and student loan default rates.
WalletHub collected data for the rankings as of Sept. 14, 2026, drawing on sources including the National Center for Education Statistics, the Council for Community and Economic Research, the U.S. Department of Education, COLLEGEdata and PayScale.
—Madison Scott is a New York Connect reporter, covering entertainment, breaking and consumer news, and trending topics with a focus on stories that matter to readers across New York state. She also has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't helpfamilies with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@USATodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 5 New York colleges rank among America's top 50. See the list
