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Higher education
Enrollment statistics
Tuition statistics
Financial aid statistics
Retention rates
Graduation rates
Higher education funding

New York's higher education system is composed of 309 colleges and universities. Of these, 81 are public institutions, 184 are nonprofit private schools, and 44 are for-profit private institutions.^[1]

Higher education policy decisions can affect college access, the retention of students and the eventual completion of their degrees, student rights on campus, students' financial burden in the form of debt, and their employment prospects after graduation.Click on the tabs below to learn more about higher education in New York.

Overview

Overview

Total number of schools: 309

Public schools: 81

State agency: New York State Higher Education Services Corporation

Retention rate: 75%[2]

Graduation rate: 59.2%[3]

Average public in-state tuition: $6,892

Total funding for public higher education: $5,466,691,712

Funding per full-time student: $8,454

Higher education in the United States •Education policy •Education policy in the United States •Public education in New York

Overview

Higher education policy refers to the decisions made by the federal government, state legislatures, higher education boards, and colleges and universities themselves. These decisions can affect how state funding is allocated, who sets tuition and at what level, campus resources available for academically struggling students, degrees and programs offered, and state financial aid eligibility and award amounts, as some examples. Higher education entities also set policies that manage campus environments, such as the prohibition or allowance of guns on campus and rules regarding free speech and student protests.^[4]

Generally speaking, there are four types of postsecondary educational institutions in the United States:^[5][6]

1. Public two-year institutions, which are most commonly known as community colleges, typically "award associate degrees in vocational fields [and] prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions." These schools are financed in large part with public funds. Dutchess Community College is an example of a public two-year institution in New York.^[5][6]
2. Public four-year colleges and universities award baccalaureate and/or graduate degrees. Traditionally, a distinction has been made between colleges and universities, with colleges awarding only four-year degrees and universities awarding both four-year and graduate-level degrees; however, these two terms are often used interchangeably today. Like their two-year counterparts, public four-year colleges and universities are financed largely with public funds. The State University of New York and Morrisville State College are examples of public four-year institutions in New York.^[5][6]
3. Private nonprofit institutions can vary dramatically in size, course offerings, and mission. These institutions do not receive public funding directly. Instead, private nonprofit schools are financed primarily by tuition, gifts, and endowments. These schools do not generate profit. Alfred University and Roberts Wesleyan College are examples of private nonprofit institutions in New York.^[5][6]
4. Private for-profit institutions typically specialize in vocational education. Like their nonprofit counterparts, these schools do not receive public funds. These mainly online universities generally serve older students and endeavor to generate profits. Examples in New York include DeVry College of New York and Bryan and Stratton College.^[5][6]

The oldest postsecondary school in New York is Columbia University, a private university. Founded in 1754, the school remains open as of January 2015. It is located in Manhattan in New York City and enrolled about 6,080 students in the 2014-2015 school year.^[7]

As of July 2016, there were 81 public colleges and universities in New York, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. These are listed in the table below.^[1]

State agencies

TheNew York State Higher Education Services Corporation is the state's agency that compiles and provides information to students about higher education. The corporation provides information on financial aid, types of schools available, loan repayment, and information specific to non-traditional or special-case students.^[8]

Admissions

Enrollment

See also:Higher education enrollment statistics

According to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, college enrollment typically rises during economic downturns and declines as the economy improves. In 2014, higher education enrollment nationwide was 8.6 percent higher than pre-recession levels in 2008. However, enrollment has been declining since 2012. Full-time enrollment in higher education institutions rose sharply following the recession before peaking in 2011 and then dropping off.^[9]

College enrollment in New York followed this trend;between 2012 and 2014, full-time enrollment decreased from about 583,025 to about 565,830. In 2014, full-time college enrollment in New York was 7.5 percent higher than in 2008. Click[show] on the green bar below the bar chart to view full-time public university enrollment in New York as compared to surrounding states.

Demographics

Enrollment by race and ethnicity

In New York, total enrollment—full-time and part-time—in all public and private higher education institutions amounted to 1,304,230 in fall 2013. About 52.1 percent of these students were white. Hispanic students comprised approximately 15.6 percent of the total postsecondary student population in New York. During that time, 56.2 percent of the state's general population was white and 16.8 percent was Hispanic, with other ethnic groups comprising the remainder. The table below lists demographic information for both postsecondary students and the general population in New York and surrounding states.^[10]

Enrollment by sex

In 2013, 56.4 percent of all postsecondary students in New York were female, which was on par with the national rate of 56.5 percent. The table below lists postsecondary student enrollment by sex in New York and surrounding states.^[11]

Affirmative action

See also:Affirmative action andAffirmative action in New York

Federal law requires government contractors and other departments and agencies receiving federal funding to develop and implement affirmative action plans for the hiring process. Public colleges and universities are considered federal contractors and must utilize affirmative action in their employment practices. However, many private and public colleges and universities across the country have also implemented similar measures in their admissions processes. These actions are typically voluntary, although a handful of states have adopted rules that require state universities to take affirmative action in admissions.^[12][13][14]

Affirmative action admissions programs were undertaken by public and private universities alike, beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s. Some universities initially established quotas in order to achieve a demographically diverse student body; these quotas were outlawed by theUnited States Supreme Court inRegents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978.^[12][15]

Affirmative action can also take other forms, such as targeted outreach campaigns.Today, a common form of affirmative action in college admissions is that of racial preferences. A preference occurs when a group of applicants is more likely to be admitted than other applicants with similar or better qualifications due to other factors, such as race or ethnicity. Preferences are also sometimes extended towards women, athletes, and children of alumni. The use of racial preferences may be related to college selectivity: scholars such as law professor Richard Sander have found that preferences are strongest at elite institutions.^{[12][15][16][17]}

Eight states have enacted laws banning the consideration of race in university admissions. As of March 2015, New York was not one of these states.Of 35 public four-year universities in New York, 11 reported considering race in admissions, as indicated in the chart below.

Consideration of race at public four-year universities in New York
School	Race/ethnicity is...				School selectivity*
	Very important	Important	Considered	Not considered
CUNY: Baruch College					Very selective
CUNY: Brooklyn College					Very selective
CUNY: City College					Most selective
CUNY: College of Staten Island					Open admission
CUNY: Hunter College					Very selective
CUNY: John Jay College of Criminal Justice					Somewhat selective
CUNY: Lehman College					N/A
CUNY: Medgar Evers College					Open admission
CUNY: New York City College of Technology	N/A				Open admission
CUNY: Queens College					Very selective
CUNY: York College					Somewhat selective
Fashion Institute of Technology					Very selective
SUNY College at Brockport					Very selective
SUNY College at Buffalo					Somewhat selective
SUNY College at Cortland					Very selective
SUNY College at Fredonia					Somewhat selective
SUNY College at Geneseo					Somewhat selective
SUNY College at New Paltz					Very selective
SUNY College at Old Westbury					Somewhat selective
SUNY College at Oneonta					Very selective
SUNY College at Oswego					Very selective
SUNY College at Plattsburgh					Very selective
SUNY College at Potsdam					Somewhat selective
SUNY College at Purchase					Very selective
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry					Somewhat selective
SUNY Empire State College					Less selective
SUNY Farmingdale State College					Very selective
SUNY Institute of Technology at Utica-Rome					Somewhat selective
SUNY Maritime College†					Somewhat selective
SUNY University at Albany					Somewhat selective
SUNY University at Binghamton					Very selective
SUNY University at Buffalo					Somewhat selective
SUNY University at Stony Brook					Very selective
United States Merchant Marine Academy					Most selective
United States Military Academy					Most selective
Sources:The College Board, "Big Future". Reproduced with permission. CollegeData, "College 411" *Note: This scale of college selectivity comes from The College Board and is measured as follows:Most selective, less than 25 percent admitted;Very selective, 25 percent to 50 percent admitted;Somewhat selective, 50 percent to 75 percent admitted;Less selective, more than 75 percent admitted;Open admission, all or most admitted. †Note: Ballotpedia found conflicting reports on the SUNY Maritime College. According to College Board, the SUNY Maritime College does consider race in admissions; however, College Data reported that the university does not consider race in its admissions decisions.

Student costs

See also:Higher education tuition statistics

In-state and private tuition

Tuition accounts for just a portion of student costs; in many states, the cost of room and board equals or surpasses the cost of tuition at public universities. However, unlike room and board, tuition has risen much faster than inflation, increasing by 40 percent between the 2005-2006 and the 2015-2016 school years. The consumer price index increased by 21.5 percent over the same time period. Some studies suggest that universities have increased tuition as a response to state budget cuts, while others correlate rising tuition with the availability of financial aid.^[18][19][20]

In the 2013-2014 academic year, the national average in-state cost for tuition and required fees at a public four-year school totaled $8,312. For a private four-year school, the average was $25,696. In New York, these figures were lower for public institutions and higher for private institutions: $6,892 and $33,825, respectively.Public university tuition in the state increased 25 percent between 2005-2006 and 2015-2016. The graph below displays average tuition prices in New York as compared to the nationwide average for each year during that time. Hover over the points to view precise figures. The table below the graph compares 2013-2014 average annual tuition costs in New York with those in surrounding states.^[19][21]

Note: Discrepancies in data between the line graph and the table below are due to differing sources of information.

Out-of-state tuition

See also:Higher education tuition statistics

Public postsecondary schools receive some of their funding from their state's government. This money in turn comes from taxation of the state's residents. Since neither out-of-state students nor their parents paid that state's taxes, the schools charge these students additional tuition to account for the difference. This additional charge is a significant increase over in-state tuition in all 50 states. In the 2013-2014 school year, out-of-state students nationwide paid an average of $22,603 in annual tuition and required fees, 272 percent higher than the in-state average of $8,312.^[19]

Students attending public postsecondary institutions in New York from outside of the state were required to pay an average of $17,082, a 248 percent difference over the average in-state tuition of $6,892. The average out-of-state tuition price for New York was lower than the national average by about $5,500. The table below compares in-state and out-of-state tuition figures for New York with those of surrounding states.

Financial aid

See also:Higher education financial aid statistics

The federal government provides financial aid to undergraduate students in the form of grants and loans. Notable grants administered by the United States government include Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG). Loan programs administered by the federal government include the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and Federal Perkins Loan Program. Perkins Loans have an interest rate of 5 percent, while Direct Loans have interest rates that vary based on the date of disbursement and the loan type: loans disbursed between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2017, have interest rates ranging from 3.76 percent to 7.21 percent. According to theU.S. Department of Education, the average default rate on Perkins Loans was 11.8 percent for borrowers who entered into repayment in 2012; the rate reflects borrowers who defaulted prior to September 30, 2014. This is compared to average default rates of 7.2 percent on home loans and 2.23 percent on credit card loans in 2014.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]}

In addition, colleges and universities often offer institution-specific financial aid to their students, and individual states may also administer student financial aid programs. According to the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, the states disbursed approximately $11.7 billion in state-based financial aid to postsecondary students in the 2013-2014 academic year. This represented about 5 percent of all financial aid provided to undergraduate students, according to The College Board.New York awarded $1.06 billion in state-based financial aid during that time. The table below provides state-based aid figures for New York and surrounding states in 2013-2014.^[28][29]

Student debt

See also:Student debt in higher education in the United States

Student debt is a major concern for both parents and students. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, in school year 2013-2014, an average of 62 percent of all students nationwide graduated with debt at an average of about $27,779 per borrower. The state with the lowest average debt held by students wasUtah, where average student debt was about $18,921. Conversely, students who graduated from colleges and universities inDelaware held an average of about $33,808 in debt, the highest in the country.^[30][31]

During the 2013-2014 school year, about 61 percent of postsecondary students at both public and private schools in New York graduated with debt.Average debt held amounted to about $27,822, ranking 19th highest in the country. The table below compares the average student debt, percentage of graduates with debt, and national rankings of New York and surrounding states.

While tuition for private schools is typically higher than that of public schools, debt does not always follow this same pattern. The Institute for College Access and Success analyzed data on student debt held by graduates of public and private schools. They found that in the 2013-2014 school year, about 60 percent of students nationwide who graduated from a public institution had debt, which averaged about $25,665 per borrower. For private schools, they found that approximately 65 percent of students graduated with an average of $28,498 in debt. However, in some states, such asNew Hampshire, students on average graduated from private schools with less debt than those who graduated from public schools.^[30][31]

During the 2013-2014 school year, about 54 percent of graduates from New York's public schools graduated with an average of $23,774 in debt. About 67 percent of private school students graduated with an average of $30,268 in debt. As this data shows, students who graduated from public schools during this year had less debt on average than those who graduated from private schools. The table below compares these statistics for New York with those of its surrounding states.

Outcomes

Retention rates

See also:Higher education retention rates

Retention rates indicate the percentage of freshmen postsecondary students who enroll the following academic year as sophomores. According to the NCHEMS Information Center for Higher Education Policymaking and Analysis:^[32]

Compared to neighboring states, New York tied with Pennsylvania for the highest total retention rate in the 2013-2014 school year at 75 percent. The table below compares retention rates in New York and surrounding states.^[34]

Graduation rates

See also:Higher education graduation rates

The table below, built from data compiled byThe Chronicle of Higher Education, details graduation rates for New York and surrounding states. Although postsecondary schools are classified as four-year and two-year institutions, relatively few students actually complete degrees within these time frames. At four-year schools, students commonly take between four and six years to complete their degrees. Likewise, students at two-year institutions commonly take three years to complete their degrees. To illustrate this point, both four-year and six-year graduation rates are provided in the table below (only three-year rates are provided for two-year institutions, owing to a lack of information regarding two-year completion rates).^[35]

At public four-year colleges in New York, 38.7 percent graduated within four years, while 59.2 percent graduated within six years. These figures were lower than in neighboring states. About 20.6 percent of New York students at public two-year colleges graduated within three years; this figure was higher than in neighboring states.^[36]

Study on college affordability and outcomes

College affordability and student debt have become major issues in higher education policy, particularly since the 2008 recession. The College Affordability Guide is an organization that evaluates colleges for their value, which is defined as providing a high-quality education that is affordable "not only for the average student, but for lower-income students as well." According to the College Affordability Guide, there are 47 colleges in New York that provide high-quality education at an affordable price. The College Affordability Guide's rankings consider a number of factors and are based on the idea that income-appropriate tuition, completing one's studies, and being able to pay back one's loans are the key elements of a worthwhile college experience. Colleges considered the best value by the guide meet the following criteria:^[37]

• Tuition at an average net price of $15,000 per year or less after financial aid for families making $48,000 per year or less
• At least 50 percent of students graduate or transfer
• At least 50 percent of students are actively paying down student loan debt three years after graduation

Additionally, all colleges considered are not-for-profit, offer associate or higher degrees, and have at least one non-standard way for students to earn college credits, such as AP or CLEP credit. The table below lists the colleges in New York that the College Affordability Guide considers to be the best value. The colleges are in no particular order. Full rankings and descriptions of the colleges can be foundhere.

Funding

Total state funding

See also:Higher education funding andNew York state budget and finances

Higher education funding mechanisms differ depending on the type of institution. Public colleges receive the lion's share of their funding from state and local governments. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state and local appropriations accounted for 53 percent of higher education revenues nationwide in 2013. By contrast, private institutions do not receive direct government funding. Instead, these institutions rely primarily on tuition, gifts, and endowments.^[38][39]

The 2008 recession led to decreased public higher education funding as college enrollment increased:

While there have been moderate increases in state allocations between 2012 and 2015, the average amount of spending "is still 15 percent less, per student, than before the economic downturn," according to a study by the State Higher Education Executive Offices (SHEEO).^[41]

According toGrapevine, which is published by Illinois State University's Center for the Study of Education Policy and SHEEO,financial support for public higher education in New York totaled $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2015, a 6.9 percent increase over fiscal year 2013. The table below lists higher education fiscal support figures for New York and surrounding states.^[42]

Funding per student

According to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, average adjusted public postsecondary appropriations per full-time student declined 13.3 percent from fiscal year 2009 to 2013 on average in the United States. In New York, appropriations per full-time student declined 2.4 percent during that same period. The table below lists adjusted public higher education appropriations per full-time student for New York and surrounding states in fiscal years 2009, 2013, and 2014.^[9]

Faculty

Faculty

See also:Higher education faculty statistics

Across the country, as student enrollment at postsecondary institutions has changed, so has the faculty. To meet rising demand, the number of faculty increased nationwide by just over 55 percent, from 515,684 to 800,611, between the 1993-1994 and 2013-2014 school years. In New York, the total number of faculty rose from 26,424 to 35,527. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the college faculty profession has one of the fastest growth rates in the nation and will see a 19 percent increase in jobs between 2012 and 2022.^[43][44][45]

Employment status

Employment of faculty at four-year public institutions in New York

While the total number of faculty at public colleges and universities continued to rise over the previous two decades, the portion of faculty who work part time rose more quickly. By the mid-1990s, part-time faculty comprised over half of total instructional faculty, a figure which continued to increase before leveling off in 2013. In the 2013-2014 school year, just over 55 percent of instructional faculty nationwide worked part time. The number of part-time faculty, including teaching and research assistants, outnumbered full-time faculty in all but 11 states. The number of teaching and research assistants alone outnumbered full-time faculty in five states. New York was not one of these states. According to theSouthern Regional Education Board,^[43][44]

In New York, the percentage of all part-time faculty, including graduate assistants, increased from 49.9 percent to 59.6 percent between the 1993-1994 and 2013-2014 school years. Below is a table that provides figures on full-time and part-time faculty employment in New York as compared to surrounding states.^[44]

Salaries

According to the Southern Regional Education Board, although the salaries of full-time faculty at public four-year institutions are higher than the those of the average American worker, their growth has not kept pace with the average rate of salary increases across all professions. However, salary growth at private institutions hasoutpaced the national average rate. From the 2008-2009 to the 2013-2014 school years, the average salary for full-time instructional faculty at public four-year institutions nationwide rose from $76,009 to $79,293. In New York, the average salary decreased from $80,190 to $72,107. The table below provides faculty salary information for the school years 2008-2009 and 2013-2014 for New York and surrounding states. Dollar figures have not been adjusted for inflation.^[44]

Demographics

Over the previous two decades, the proportions of female, black, and Hispanic faculty members at public colleges and universities nationwide increased to reach their highest levels ever in the 2013-2014 school year. In New York, 43.9 percent of full-time college faculty were female, 6.6 percent were black, and 4.9 percent were Hispanic. Female, black, and Hispanic representation in college faculty at that time was higher than in the 1993-1994 school year. However, it still fell below the proportions of both the general and college student populations who were female, black, and Hispanic. Click[show] on the green bar below the pie charts to view demographic information for full-time faculty at public four-year colleges and universities in New York from the 1993-1994 to the 2013-2014 school years. For this reason, the pie chart displays a different figure for 'Other' than the table.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the termsNew York higher education. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

• Public education in New York
• New York state budget and finances
• Historical higher education information in New York

Higher education in the 50 states

Click on a state below to read more about higher education in that state.

Footnotes

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