Best Colleges & Top Party Schools In New York For 2025

Students have moved into dorm rooms and are starting the next chapter of their lives in colleges and universities across the country. Where are the top schools and who has best party scene?

There are three schools in Central New York among the best in the state and one that's among the Top 20 in the country.

Cornell Among the Best

Cornell has the honor of being the only University in Central New York to make Niche's Top 20 Best in the nation, coming in at #17.

It's not easy to get into though. The acceptance rate at Cornell is only 7%. It's not cheap either. Tuition is over 26 grand! That's $6,000 more than Yale, the top school in the country.

READ MORE: Cornell Received Several Honors

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 came in at #12 for top schools in New York.

Best Value

Which schools offer the best bang for your buck? In New York, that honors goes to CUNY Baruch College where tuition is less than $5,000 and the acceptance rate is 50%.

The only school with cheaper rates is Lehman College in the Bronx, which came in at #3 for Best Value.

Hamilton College and SUNY Polly also made the list at #8 and #9.

READ MORE: 5 Central New York High Schools Among Top 100 in the State

SU Among Top Party Schools

When it comes to college parties, Syracuse University is the place to be. It has the honor of being the only school in New York to make the Top 10 Party Schools in the nation, a title they've held for several years.

SU is at #6 for 2025, falling down the list 1 from 2024. But it's #1 in New York State.

READ MORE: Syracuse University Home to Tree of 40 Fruits 

The party scene at the school gets an A+. Athletics do as well, which is no surprise to any Orange fan in Central New York.

The student body motto at SU is "party hard, work hard." You better work hard after spending almost $44,000 a year on tuition. 

University at Albany, SUNY

The University at Albany, SUNY comes in just behind Syracuse University at #2 in New York and #37 in America, 2 higher than last year. The school also gets an A+ for their party scene.

It's a little easier to get into the University of Albany than Syracuse with a 68% acceptance rate. It's a lot cheaper too with tuition costs at a little over $17,000 a year.

Top Party School in the Nation

Where is the top party school in the nation? That honor goes to the University of California in Santa Barbara that's held the top spot for the last several years.

Check out all the top Party Schools in the country at Niche.com.