Students have moved into their dorms and are starting the next chapter of their lives at colleges and universities across the country. Where are the best schools and who has the best party scene?
Central New York is home to three schools that are among the best in the state and one that is in the top 20 in the country.
Cornell among the best
Cornell has the honor of being the only university in central New York State to make it into the top 20 best universities in the country according to Niche, ranking 17th.
However, it is not easy to get accepted. The acceptance rate at Cornell is only 7%. And it is not cheap either. Tuition fees are over $26,000! That is $6,000 more than at Yale, the best university in the country.
READ MORE: Cornell received several awards
Cornell University among the 20 best universities in the country
Top 10 Colleges in New York
Columbia University
Cornell
NYU
Barnard University
Hamilton College
Vassar College
Colgate University
University of Rochester
Binghamton University, SUNY
Syracuse University ranked 12th among the best universities in New York.
Best value for money
Which schools offer the best value for money? In New York, that honor goes to CUNY Baruch College, where tuition is less than $5,000 and the acceptance rate is 50%.
The only school with cheaper prices is Lehman College in the Bronx, which ranked third in the “Best Value” category.
Hamilton College and SUNY Polly also made the list (8th and 9th, respectively).
READ MORE: 5 Central New York high schools among the state’s top 100
SU among the best party schools
When it comes to college partying, Syracuse University is the place to be. It has the honor of being the only school in New York to be ranked among the top 10 party schools in the country, a title it has held for several years.
SU is ranked 6th for 2025, dropping 1st from 2024. However, it is ranked 1st in New York State.
READ MORE: At Syracuse University there is a tree with 40 fruits
The school’s party scene gets an A+. The same goes for athletics, which is no surprise to Orange fans in Central New York.
The motto of the SU student body is “Party hard, work hard.” You should work hard after spending nearly $44,000 a year on tuition.
SU Top party school in New York
University at Albany, SUNY
The University at Albany, SUNY, is ranked just behind Syracuse University at number 2 in New York and number 37 in America, up two places from last year. The school also gets an A+ for its party scene.
The University of Albany is a little easier to get accepted than Syracuse, with an acceptance rate of 68%. It’s also much cheaper, with tuition coming in at just over $17,000 per year.
Best party school in the country
Where is the best party school in the country? That honor goes to the University of California, Santa Barbara, which has held the top spot for the past few years.
Check out all the top party schools in the country on Niche.com.
Top 10 Party Schools in New York for 2024
Which schools have the best party scene in New York? Here are the state’s top 10 for 2024.
Gallery Credit: Credit – Polly McAdams
