New York, New York, the city that never sleeps. What better place to spend your student years? Four years won’t be nearly enough time to exhaust all there is to see and do in New York City but if you’re up to the challenge, it’s definitely worth a try.
Just exploring the city’s museums is an education in itself, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim. Each of the city’s neighbourhoods has its own individual character and you’re bound to find your favourite spot. You might get a taste for the hipster lifestyle in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, or become a regular urban rambler on the well-trodden path of New York’s High Line, in the contemporary art district of Chelsea.
For theatre fans, students in New York will often benefit from reduced ticket prices to the opera, Broadway and off-Broadway performances. Universities slightly outside the city offer the best of both worlds, with the community spirit and rural setting of a campus university with New York City an easy drive or bus journey away. While the State of New York is often overshadowed by the city that shares its name, the Finger Lakes region in particular is one of the most picturesque areas of countryside in New England.
Choosing a university in New York can be a daunting task, so I've collected the best universities in the state based on the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2021 to help you decide.
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1. Cornell University
Cornell University, founded in 1865, is an Ivy League university that consistently performs highly in world rankings. Cornell University’s 2,300-acre campus is located in the picturesque Finger Lakes region of New York State.
The campus is vast enough to contain hiking trails for students to explore. Nearby Ithaca has a reputation for being a favourite with foodies.
One of the university’s traditions is the annual Dragon Day parade in late March. Architecture students parade a giant dragon across the campus where it is pitted against a phoenix created by students from the rival College of Engineering.
The university has a number of locations in New York City, including Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Science in Upper Manhattan.
2. Columbia University
Located in Upper Manhattan, Columbia University is the fifth oldest university in the country and the oldest in New York State. The university was founded in 1754 as King’s College. Post-revolution, the institution was renamed Columbia College and in 1896 became Columbia University to reflect the collection of colleges that had been brought together, including Barnard College for women in 1891.
Joseph Pulitzer founded Columbia’s prestigious School of Journalism in 1912. In the 1930s, Columbia School of Law produced two Supreme Court Chief Justices, Charles Evans Hughes and Harlan Fiske Stone. The Columbia University campus on Morningside Heights has been home to the university since 1897. The architect Charles Follen McKim was inspired by the classical architecture of ancient Greece. Columbia University Medical Centre has its own 20-acre campus in Washington Heights, two miles further north.
3. New York University
Among the top institutions in New York City is New York University, located in the heart of Manhattan. Washington Square Park is the epicentre of New York University activity with many of the university’s halls and academic buildings nearby. Departments are located across the river in downtown Brooklyn.
Founded by the statesman Albert Gallatin in 1831, the university was established to serve students from all walks of life. Today, New York University is among the top universities in the US in terms of academic rankings. It is also one of the largest private universities in the country with more than 44,000 students, and is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.
One of the university's annual traditions is the Strawberry Festival, a chance for students to celebrate the end of exams and enjoy a slice of the longest strawberry cheesecake in New York City.
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Best universities in New York 2021
Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2021 profile
| US College Rank 2021 | New York Rank 2021 | University | City |
| 9 | 1 | Cornell University | Ithaca |
| =15 | 2 | Columbia University | New York |
| 27 | 3 | New York University | New York |
| 49 | 4 | University of Rochester | Rochester |
| 50 | 5 | Colgate University | Hamilton |
| 52 | 6 | Barnard College | New York |
| =56 | 7 | Hamilton College | Clinton |
| 62 | 8 | Vassar College | Poughkeepsie |
| =94 | 9 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy |
| =98 | 10 | Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs |
| =121 | 11 | University at Buffalo | Buffalo |
| =124 | =12 | Stony Brook University | Stony Brook |
| =124 | =12 | Syracuse University | Syracuse |
| 132 | 14 | Union College | Schenectady |
| 143 | 15 | Yeshiva University | New York |
| =158 | 16 | Binghamton University, State University of New York | Vestal |
| 161 | 17 | Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester |
| =162 | 18 | Hobart and William Smith Colleges | Geneva |
| =175 | 19 | Sarah Lawrence College | Bronxville |
| =183 | 20 | Fordham University | Bronx |
| =187 | 21 | St Lawrence University | Canton |
| =193 | 22 | State University of New York Albany | Albany |
| 200 | 23 | Clarkson University | Potsdam |
| =220 | 24 | Hofstra University | Hempstead |
| 223 | 25 | Ithaca College | Ithaca |
| =227 | =26 | Adelphi University | Garden City |
| =227 | =26 | Pratt Institute | Brooklyn |
| =229 | 28 | CUNY City College of New York | New York |
| =248 | 29 | CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College | New York |
| =259 | 30 | Molloy College | Rockville Centre |
| =264 | 31 | Bard College | Annandale-On-Hudson |
| =264 | 32 | New York Institute of Technology | Old Westbury |
| =276 | =33 | CUNY Hunter College | New York |
| =276 | =33 | Manhattan College | Riverdale |
| =285 | 34 | Pace University-New York | New York |
| =298 | =35 | SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry | Syracuse |
| =298 | =35 | Siena College | Loudonville |
| =310 | 37 | The New School | New York |
| =315 | 38 | Hartwick College | Oneonta |
| =323 | 39 | Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences | Albany |
| 327 | 40 | CUNY Queens College | Queens |
| =339 | 41 | St John Fisher College | Rochester |
| =358 | 42 | CUNY Brooklyn College | Brooklyn |
| =360 | 43 | Canisius College | Buffalo |
| =377 | 44 | SUNY New Paltz | New Paltz |
| =382 | 45 | Nazareth College | Rochester |
| 389 | 46 | Wagner College | Staten Island |
| =397 | 47 | Le Moyne College | Syracuse |
| 401-500 | =48 | Alfred University | Alfred |
| 401-500 | =48 | CUNY Lehman College | Bronx |
| 401-500 | =48 | Iona College | New Rochelle |
| 401-500 | =48 | Long Island University | Brookville |
| 401-500 | =48 | Marist College | Poughkeepsie |
| 401-500 | =48 | SUNY Buffalo State | Buffalo |
| 401-500 | =48 | St John's University-New York | Queens |
| 501-600 | =55 | CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice | New York |
| 501-600 | =55 | Daemen College | Amherst |
| 501-600 | =55 | Manhattanville College | Purchase |
| 501-600 | =55 | College of Mount Saint Vincent | Bronx |
| 501-600 | =55 | Niagara University | Niagara University |
| 501-600 | =55 | SUNY College at Brockport | Brockport |
| 501-600 | =55 | SUNY Cortland | Cortland |
| 501-600 | =55 | SUNY Geneseo | Geneseo |
| 501-600 | =55 | SUNY Oneonta | Oneonta |
| 501-600 | =55 | SUNY Oswego | Oswego |
| 501-600 | =55 | SUNY Plattsburgh | Plattsburgh |
| 501-600 | =55 | St Bonaventure University | Saint Bonaventure |
| > 600 | =67 | CUNY College of Staten Island | Staten Island |
| > 600 | =67 | D'Youville College | Buffalo |
| > 600 | =67 | Marymount Manhattan College | New York |
| > 600 | =67 | Mercy College | Dobbs Ferry |
| > 600 | =67 | SUNY Alfred State College | Alfred |
| > 600 | =67 | SUNY Farmingdale State College | Farmingdale |
| > 600 | =67 | SUNY at Fredonia | Fredonia |
| > 600 | =67 | SUNY Potsdam | Potsdam |
| > 600 | =67 | SUNY Purchase College | Purchase |
| > 600 | =67 | The College of Saint Rose | Albany |
| > 600 | =67 | Touro College | New York |
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