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Top 10 in the Northeast: SUNY New Paltz rises in 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings

Andrew Bruso

SUNY New Paltz moved up to No. 6 on the list of the best public universities in the Northeast and placed on lists for best value, social mobility and best colleges for veterans in the 2025 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges Rankings.

On the ranking of all colleges (public and private) in the Northeast, New Paltz ranked No. 19, up from No. 24 last year.

“SUNY New Paltz is on the move, and we are so proud to continue to be recognized for academic excellence and innovation in a smaller package,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Stella Turk. “New Paltz continues to earn honors for our student-centered programming and as a leader in educational trends. Innovation and academic excellence continue to be the hallmark of a New Paltz education. With our small-college appeal and breadth of offerings for our students in an ideal location, New Paltz will continue to be the choice university for northeast students and beyond.”

The University’s strong showing on this year’s lists includes placement at No. 16 in Top Performers on Social Mobility and No. 56 in Best Value Schools – especially important recognitions at a public university like SUNY New Paltz, where the educational mission is rooted in helping students and families advance up the socioeconomic ladder.

New Paltz also landed at No. 7 among Northeast institutions on the Best Colleges for Veterans list, further demonstrating the University’s burgeoning reputation as a leader in serving military-affiliated students and families since the 2014 establishment of an Office of Veterans & Military Services on campus.

Individual programs earned accolades from U.S. News as well, as New Paltz appeared on lists for the Best Undergraduate Business Programs, Best Undergraduate Psychology Programs, Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs and Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs.

For more information on methodology and to see the full nationwide rankings, visit the U.S. News & World Report online.

 

Full U.S. News & World Report Rankings Breakdown

The U.S. News & World Report evaluated hundreds of colleges and universities this year using publicly available data on indicators like first-year student retention and graduation rates, and reputational factors measured by peer-assessment survey.

Here’s the full breakdown of SUNY New Paltz’s honors on these focused lists:

Top Performers in Social Mobility (No. 16 in the Northeast, up from No. 21 last year): Colleges that help students climb the socioeconomic ladder with high graduation rates and successful outcomes for recipients of federal Pell Grants, which are generally awarded to students and families with great financial need.

Best Colleges for Veterans (No. 7 in the Northeast): This list includes high-performing institutions that serve a significant number of students who are veterans or active military members. New Paltz has consistently appeared as one of the top SUNY institutions on this list, a testament to the outstanding support delivered by the Office of Veteran & Military Services to the hundreds of military-affiliated students it serves each year.

Best Value Schools (No. 56 in the Northeast): U.S. News calculates this list by comparing schools’ places in academic rankings against the cost of tuition and other financial aid-related factors.

In academic subject areas, SUNY New Paltz came in at No. 131 on the list of Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs and was ranked on unnumbered lists of the Best Undergraduate Business Programs, Best Undergraduate Psychology Programs and Best Undergraduate Computer Science Programs. These lists are based on peer surveys sent to large and diverse groups of higher education professionals.

Click here for the complete New Paltz U.S. News & World Report Rankings in their 2025 list.

 

SUNY New Paltz in College and University Rankings

SUNY New Paltz is consistently ranked among the nation’s top public universities by a variety of highly regarded publications. Recent accolades include a listing on the Top 10 Military Friendly® Schools; a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) Gold rating; Princeton Review touting New Paltz as one of the Best Colleges in the Northeast; and College Consensus listing New Paltz as one of the 30 best higher education values in the United States.

Use this link for more info about SUNY New Paltz in national rankings.