named one of the nation’s best colleges by U.S. News & World Report
ranked #1 best value public college in New York
has been named one of the nation’s best universities and best values in the rankings, recognized for its strong academic quality and affordability.
The newly released list by U.S. News & World Report places as the #35 best college in the nation for value, up three spots from the 2025 list, and well above the 2024 list, when was ranked #85 in that category.
Looking at public universities specifically, was ranked the #3 best value public institution in the nation and the #1 best value public institution in New York State.
In addition to this ranking, was also named the #34 best public university in the nation and #73 best overall university.
“This recognition as a best value university reaffirms our commitment to offering world-class education at an affordable cost,” said President Harvey Stenger. “We’re proud to offer students a high-quality academic experience that prepares them for success in their careers – without the burden of excessive debt.”
Several specific programs at also saw sizable leaps in the annual list. The engineering program rose from #98 in last year’s edition of the rankings, to #86 this year. The undergraduate nursing program joined the top 100 at #98 after finishing #114 last year. Undergraduate computer sciences also crept up nine spots from last year to make #117 in the nation.
U.S. News also placed in impressive positions for schools that are best for veterans (#43), psychology (#85), social mobility (#98), business (#109) and economics (#121).
“ time and time again is listed among the best universities in the nation,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Hall. “It’s not only a powerful reminder of the hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff and students, but it reinforces our commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and student success.”
U.S. News evaluates universities based on 17 measures of academic quality. These include graduation and retention rates, student selectivity, financial resources allocated per student, class sizes, and the proportion of faculty holding terminal degrees in their disciplines. Additional considerations include student-to-faculty ratio, average federal loan debt among graduates, and assessments from academic years.
was also recently named to Forbes’ Top Public Colleges list and was featured in New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Selingo’s book Dream Schools.
Visit our accolades page for more ranking info.