Cheapest Colleges in New York in 2025

Home to more than 130 colleges and universities, New York offers students a vast array of options for higher education: Ivy League and Seven Sisters schools, the largest comprehensive public university system in the U.S. (SUNY), the “Nation’s Leading Urban University” (CUNY), top specialty schools such as West Point and Juilliard, and about 80 community colleges.

Plenty of these schools remain affordable. Public universities in the SUNY, or State University of New York, system offer outstanding value, and New York’s governor recently announced an initiative to make community college free to students pursuing in-demand fields.

Once students graduate, they have abundant employment opportunities thanks to a robust state economy that continues to grow, with more than 20,000 new jobs added in January 2025 alone.

In choosing colleges in New York to spotlight, we considered factors such as academic reputation, location, and affordability. We don’t use a strict ranking methodology, and colleges aren’t ranked in any particular order.

We’ve created a complete list of affordable four-year public and nonprofit universities in New York. You can use the table below to compare data on student population, average net cost, acceptance rate, and number of applicants.

The following school data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). All data is from 2023-2024. Schools with fewer than 500 undergraduates were not included in this list.

New York is home to several renowned colleges and universities, both public and private.

Students can study in major urban centers as well as in more rural settings. New York City offers unmatched opportunities for internships and careers in finance, law, and entertainment.

The state’s economy continues to grow, offering jobs in fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and tourism.

Costs for attending college in New York vary widely. For the 2022-23 school year, the average annual tuition for private colleges in New York was just over $46,000, compared to a national average of about $35,000 for similar institutions, according to NCES data.

Public four-year schools in the state cost only $8,575 for in-state residents compared to a national average of $9,750.

Schools in the SUNY system are among the most affordable public universities in the U.S., featuring the eighth-lowest average tuition cost.

At Stony Brook University, New York residents paid $7,070 in tuition for the 2024-25 school year, though the total bill swelled to $29,424 when fees, housing, and food were included. Out-of-state students paid a total of $51,228 on average.

At Columbia University, tuition for 2024-25 ran at $71,170, with an average total annual cost of $93,417.

Yet these figures can be deceiving. Factoring in financial awards, Columbia’s average net price dropped to $20,869 in 2022-23, while Stony Brook’s was $18,601, greatly reducing the cost gap between them.

Of course, free college is the most affordable college. Thanks to New York’s Excelsior Scholarship Program, in-state students from families making up to $125,000 per year qualify for free tuition at all CUNY and SUNY two- and four-year colleges.

Regardless of your financial situation, it’s important to research your student aid options. That includes filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.

When researching colleges in New York, consider whether or not they are accredited. Accreditation is the “seal of approval” awarded to colleges and universities that meet certain quality standards. Without it, their students cannot receive federal financial aid and may have more difficulty transferring credits or landing a job.

Several forms of accreditation exist. Colleges can earn institutional accreditation from national or regional agencies, though the latter offer more rigorous standards. Academic programs — for instance, in education, law, medicine, and business — often have programmatic accrediting bodies providing quality assurance in those fields. Programmatic accreditation may be required to earn licensure in the field.

To learn more about accreditation for your target schools in New York, check out the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and search for your institution.