Dozens of New York City colleges, including the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology, were named among the best in the country in two separate rankings released earlier this month.
The Wall Street Journal’s 2025 ranking of 500 colleges “measures how well each college prepares its graduates for financial success.” And Forbes recently released its annual list of America’s best colleges, ranking 500 schools to highlight which ones “offer the best educational, financial and career opportunities for all students.”
This is how New York schools fared on both lists.
Wall Street Journal rankings
The Wall Street Journal’s rankings, produced in partnership with College Pulse and Statista, are based on student achievement, learning environment and diversity.
With an overall score of 60.4, St. John Fisher University ranked 277th, followed by the University of Rochester with 316 and an overall score of 56.9 and the Rochester Institute of Technology with 56.7 at 318. Nazareth University also made the Wall Street Journal’s list, coming in at 478th with a score of 35.5.
Here are the other New York schools that made the Wall Street Journal’s list:
Check out the list: What are the best and worst cities for retirement in the US?
Forbes ranking
Forbes ranked the best schools based on return on investment, average student debt, and the success rate of their graduates.
Rochester is somewhat less represented on the Forbes list: The University of Rochester ranks 91st, with the Rochester Institute of Technology following slightly further down at 301st.
Here are the other New York schools that made the Forbes list:
Emily Barnes is the New York State team’s consumer protection reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Contact us at [email protected].
