New York Schools Ranked Among U.S. News’ 2022-2023 Best Colleges

NEW YORK — One hundred eighteen colleges and universities in New York are among higher education institutions included in the 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings released Monday by U.S. News & World Report.

U.S. News has been publishing the respected guide for prospective students and families for nearly 40 years. Methodology has changed over the years to reflect changes in higher education, Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, said in a news release.

U.S. News touts its ranking for providing millions of parents with “useful data and information to help with one of life’s biggest decisions,” Castro said.

U.S. News ranked 1,500 colleges and universities across 17 academic measures. To rank colleges, U.S. News first places each school into a category based on its mission and, in some cases, its geographic location.

National universities, which focus on research and offer several doctoral programs, are ranked separately from liberal arts colleges.

New York schools that made the ranking include:

National Universities

• Cornell University, Ithaca. Ranked No. 17
• Columbia University, New York. Ranked No. 18
• New York University, New York. Ranked No. 25
• University of Rochester, Rochester. Ranked No. 36
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy. Ranked No. 51

National Liberal Arts College

• United States Military Academy at West Point, West Point. Ranked No. 9
• Vassar College, Poughkeepsie. Ranked No. 13
• Hamilton College, Clinton. Ranked No. 15
• Barnard College, New York. Ranked No. 18
• Colgate University, Hamilton. Ranked No. 18

Regional Colleges North

• Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York. Ranked No. 2
• United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point. Ranked No. 3
• Elmira College, Elmira. Ranked No. 8
• Alfred State College—SUNY, Alfred. Ranked No. 9
• Cazenovia College, Cazenovia. Ranked No. 11

Regional Universities North

• SUNY Polytechnic Institute—Utica/Rome, Utica. Ranked No. 9
• Marist College, Poughkeepsie. Ranked No. 11
• Ithaca College, Ithaca. Ranked No. 12
• CUNY—Baruch College, New York. Ranked No. 14
• Le Moyne College, Syracuse. Ranked No. 15

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Universities

• CUNY—City College, New York. Ranked No. 12
• Russell Sage College, Troy. Ranked No. 14
• Stony Brook University—SUNY, Stony Brook. Ranked No. 38
• University at Albany, Albany. Ranked No. 38
• St. John's University, Jamaica. Ranked No 41

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Liberal Arts College

• Hartwick College, Oneonta. Ranked No. 11
• Vassar College, Poughkeepsie. Ranked No. 20
• Houghton University, Houghton. Ranked No. 48
• Purchase College—SUNY, Purchase. Ranked No. 48
• Wells College, Aurora. Ranked No. 48

Overall, the top three schools in each category are:

National Universities

1. Princeton University (New Jersey)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Tie: Harvard University (Massachusetts), Stanford University (California) and Yale University (Connecticut)

National Liberal Arts Colleges

1. Williams College (Massachusetts)
2. Amherst College (Massachusetts)
3. Pomona College (California)

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Universities

1. Keiser University (Florida)
2. University of California, Riverside
3. California State University – Long Beach

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Liberal Arts Colleges

1. Salem College (North Carolina)
2. Lake Forest College (Illinois)
3. Tougaloo College (Mississippi)

To compile the rankings, U.S. News focuses on academic quality and places emphasis on outcome measures, including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness and social mobility. Graduation rates and other outcomes represent 40 percent of each school’s overall score.

U.S. News said it changed how it weights SAT and ACT scores because demand for the college entrance exams plummeted due to the pandemic, especially among students living in low-income households.

Part-time faculty members were considered in measures on faculty resources, reflecting a trend for more part-time instructors, U.S. News said. Previously, only full-time instructors were considered.

Read more about the methodology.