Best Universities in New York 2025
New York State is one of the great centers of higher education in the world. From Ivy League giants in Manhattan to innovative liberal arts colleges in the Hudson Valley, from the sprawling CUNY and SUNY systems to specialized conservatories and medical schools, New York offers more educational diversity than virtually any other state in the country.
Elite Private Universities
Columbia University in Morningside Heights, Manhattan is an Ivy League university and one of the top 10 universities in the world. Columbia’s Law School, Business School (Columbia Business School), and Journalism School (the home of the Pulitzer Prize) are globally renowned.
New York University (NYU) in Greenwich Village is the largest private university in the US and one of the most internationally diverse. NYU’s Stern School of Business, Tisch School of the Arts, and medical school are all top-ranked nationally.
Cornell University in Ithaca is the only Ivy League university with land-grant status, offering unique programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, hotel administration, and industrial and labor relations alongside standard Ivy League strengths in engineering, law, and business.
CUNY and SUNY Systems
The City University of New York (CUNY) is the largest urban university system in the US, with 25 campuses and over 275,000 students. CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College offers full scholarships to the state’s most academically talented students — free for NYC residents. The State University of New York (SUNY) system with 64 campuses is the largest comprehensive university system in the world.
Browse all New York universities and colleges in our directory.
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