​Best Colleges In New York​: New U.S. News Rankings

Columbia University is New York’s highest-ranked national university on U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 best colleges list. A total of 121 New York colleges were featured on the national list with the highest-ranking college — Columbia University — coming in at No. 3 and the lowest-ranking New York school/schools earning rankings of between 164 and 381.

The 2020 rankings include the overall best national universities rankings, as well as rankings for the best liberal-arts colleges, the top public schools, the best value schools and more.

For the 2020 rankings, U.S. News made some changes to help prospective students with their college search. A new set of rankings looks at the top performers in social mobility, evaluating which schools best serve underrepresented students. The 2020 methodology also factors in which schools support first-generation college students through graduation.

Among the New York schools that were featured on the social mobility rankings were Stony Brook University — SUNY, Pace University, Vassar College, United States Military Academy, Purchase College — SUNY, Monroe College, Nyack College, Iona College, Adelphi University and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

A total of 1,400 colleges are included in the 2020 rankings.The publication says that 90 percent of those reading the best-colleges list are looking for schools outside the top 10. (You can read the full methodology here)

“For more than three decades, we’ve collected and analyzed data on thousands of colleges and universities across the country and helped put schools on the map,” Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News, said in a news release. “We’ve found the best institutions to be ones committed to academically and financially supporting their students through graduation. They draw in high-quality professors and set students up for postgraduate success.”

Here are the New York schools that made the national university rankings:

• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• New York University
• University of Rochester
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Syracuse University
• Fordham University
• Binghamton University — SUNY
• University at Buffalo — SUNY
• Stony Brook University — SUNY
• Yeshiva University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Clarkson University
• SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
• University at Albany — SUNY
• The New School
• Hofstra University
• Adelphi University
• St. John Fisher College
• St. John's University
• Pace University
• CUNY — City College
• The Sage Colleges
• Long Island University
• D'Youville College
• Daemen College
• Touro College
• CUNY — Graduate Center

Here are the New York schools that made the liberal arts colleges rankings:

• Hamilton College
• Vassar College
• Colgate University
• United States Military Academy
• Barnard College
• Skidmore College
• Union College
• St. Lawrence University
• Bard College
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Houghton College
• Wells College
• Hartwick College
• Marymount Manhattan College
• Purchase College — SUNY
• The King's College

Here are the New York schools that made the top public schools rankings:

• Cooper Union
• United States Merchant Marine Academy
• Elmira College
• SUNY College of Technology — Alfred
• Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology
• St. Francis College
• Cazenovia College
• SUNY College of Technology — Delhi
• SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology — Cobleskill
• Paul Smith's College
• Farmingdale State College — SUNY
• SUNY College of Technology — Canton
• SUNY — Morrisville
• CUNY — New York City College of Technology
• CUNY — Medgar Evers College
• CUNY — York College
• Five Towns College
• Boricua College
• Hilbert College
• Plaza College
• The College of Westchester
• Villa Maria College
• Ithaca College
• Marist College
• SUNY Polytechnic Institute — Albany/Utica
• Manhattan College
• Le Moyne College
• SUNY — Geneseo
• CUNY — Baruch College
• Siena College
• Canisius College
• St. Bonaventure University
• CUNY — Hunter College
• Molloy College
• SUNY — New Paltz
• Nazareth College
• Niagara University
• Wagner College
• Alfred University
• New York Institute of Technology
• CUNY — Queens College
• SUNY College — Oneonta
• SUNY — Oswego
• Iona College
• SUNY — Fredonia
• CUNY — Brooklyn College
• St. Joseph's College New York
• SUNY College — Cortland
• SUNY — Plattsburgh
• SUNY College — Potsdam
• SUNY Maritime College
• Manhattanville College
• Roberts Wesleyan College
• College at Brockport — SUNY
• Monroe College
• College of Saint Rose
• Utica College
• CUNY — John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• CUNY — Lehman College
• SUNY Buffalo State
• College of Mount St. Vincent
• Mount St. Mary College
• Keuka College
• St. Thomas Aquinas College
• College of New Rochelle
• Concordia College
• CUNY — College of Staten Island
• Dominican College
• Medaille College
• Mercy College
• Metropolitan College of New York
• Nyack College
• SUNY College — Old Westbury
• Excelsior College
• Fashion Institute of Technology
• SUNY Empire State College

Overall, Princeton University once again stayed in the No.1 spot. Williams College was the top liberal-arts college and the University of California-Los Angeles was the No.1 public school.

Below are the top 5 national universities:

1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Columbia University (NY) (tie)
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)
3. Yale University (CT) (tie)

Below are the top 3 liberal arts colleges:

1. Williams College (MA)
2. Amherst College (MA)
3. Swarthmore College (PA) (tie)
3. Wellesley College (MA) (tie)

Below are the top 3 public universities:

1. University of California—Los Angeles
2. University of California—Berkeley
3. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor