2024 Best Colleges in New York

Columbia University has three undergraduate schools: Columbia College, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and the School of General Studies. This Ivy League, private school guarantees students housing for all four years on campus in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood in New York City.

Cornell University, a private school in Ithaca, New York, has 14 colleges and schools. Each admits its own students, though every graduate receives a degree from Cornell University. The university has more than 1,000 student organizations on campus.

New York University’s primary campus is located in the lively Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. NYU is a true city school, with no borders separating a distinct campus from the streets of the Big Apple. Students are guaranteed housing for all four years in the many residence halls throughout Manhattan, but many upperclassmen choose to live off campus in apartments around the city. NYU has a small but active Greek life with more than 30 fraternity and sorority chapters. There are more than 300 student organizations on campus, such as WNYU, the student radio station which streams online and broadcasts on a local FM channel to the university community.

The University of Rochester describes itself as one of the smallest and most collegiate schools among the nation’s top research universities. The Yellowjackets mainly compete in the University Athletic Association and participate in NCAA Division III sports. The school also offers more than 250 student organizations, and one quarter of students are affiliated with Greek life on campus. Rochester’s a cappella ensembles are among the country’s best. Freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus, and two-thirds of the juniors and more than half of the seniors choose to remain on campus. Rochester’s main campus is located two miles south of downtown Rochester, N.Y., in the bend of the Genesee River.

Stony Brook University is one of 64 schools in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Located on the North Shore of Long Island, the university is accessible by car, train and ferry, and many students choose to commute. Freshmen do not have to live on campus. Academic activity pauses each Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for Campus Life Time, when students can check out free concerts, sample free food and take a break from the rigor of classes. Annually, students gather for events like the Roth Pond Regatta, a race of student-made cardboard boats, and the Shirley Strum Kenny Student Arts Festival, a week of student work showcases. Students can also check out more than 300 student organizations on campus, including more than 30 fraternities and sororities. On the athletic fields, the Stony Brook Seawolves compete in the NCAA Division I America East Conference. For a workout off the field, students can bike and hike around Stony Brook’s large, wooded campus, which includes the Ashley Schiff Park Preserve. For an urban experience, New York City is about 60 miles away.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was founded on the principles of bringing science to everyday life, and that ethos is still prevalent today. About a quarter of students are involved in Greek L.I.F.E., as the fraternity and sorority scene is known at the school, which stresses Leadership, Innovation, Fortitude and Evolution. More students – more than 80 percent – play sports at the varsity, club or intramural level. True to the school’s mission, the varsity athletes are known as the Engineers, and compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Liberty League. There are also more than 200 student organizations. Freshmen must live on campus, usually in dormitories that only house first-year students. RPI’s campus, in Troy, N.Y., is nestled in an ideal location for nature lovers. The school overlooks the Hudson River, where waterfront activities abound, and is close to Grafton Lakes State Park, Lake George and the Adirondack Mountains. For an urban experience, Albany is 9 miles away.

Few schools are associated with a color as strongly as Syracuse University. A brilliant shade of orange is tied into campus life, manifesting itself in student media outlets such as The Daily Orange, the student-run newspaper, and CitrusTV, the television studio. The school’s sports teams are known simply as Orange and compete in the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference, cheered on by school mascot Otto the Orange. The football team plays in Carrier Dome, famed as the only domed stadium in the Northeast.

Outdoor recreation abounds in the southeastern New York location of Binghamton University. Despite its name, the university is actually located in Vestal, N.Y., a suburb of Binghamton. The campus includes a nature preserve, complete with a forest and pond where students can hike, bike and run around. Through the Adventure Resource Center and the Outdoor Pursuits program, students can participate in organized kayaking, climbing and camping trips or can plan an excursion of their own. Winter sports fans can go skiing and snowboarding at Greek Peak, a 30-mile trip from campus. On campus, annual student events include University Fest and Spring Fling, two outdoor celebrations with live music, carnival rides and food. There are more than 300 student organizations, including nearly 60 recognized fraternities and sororities.

Founded in 1846, University at Buffalo--SUNY is a public institution. University at Buffalo--SUNY offers a Greek system, where 1 percent of the student body is involved in a sorority and 2% is involved in a fraternity.

At Fordham University, "New York is [your] campus" as the school’s website says. With campuses throughout New York City, students live and learn in the thick of an urban experience. The school’s original Bronx campus, Rose Hill, is in walking distance to the Bronx Zoo, New York Botanical Gardens and Little Italy. Today, Fordham has two more campuses: Lincoln Center, which is close to Central Park, and Westchester campus, which is in West Harrison, N.Y. Freshmen do not have to live on campus, but any student who is promised housing upon admittance to the school is guaranteed a room for four consecutive years. Students can travel between campuses on the school’s Ram Van, a burgundy shuttle that runs every half hour. The van makes enough trips, the school has calculated, that it’s covered a distance equivalent to traveling around the world 18.5 times a year. The Fordham Rams play in the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference. Fordham University, a Jesuit institution, does not have a Greek system.