New York ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Biggest Colleges in New York

The 50 largest of the 384 New York colleges and universities that report an enrolment to the U.S. Department of Education, ranked biggest first. Total enrolment counts online and distance students, so an institution with a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

56,832
Largest in New York
384
Institutions reporting
593
Median New York institution
#3
of 51 states by enrolment

New York University is the largest institution in New York with 56,832 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, New York University leads New York at 56,832 students, and the five largest hold 15.4% of state enrollment. This list covers the 50 largest of 384 reporting institutions. Totals include online learners, so a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Largest in New York
56,832
Institutions reporting
384
State students in top 5
15.4%
Median New York institution
593

New York in one line

New York University is the largest institution in New York with 56,832 students, about 96x the 593 of the median institution in the state. The five largest hold only 15.4% of the state's students, so enrolment is spread widely across many smaller institutions rather than gathered into a few.

56,832
students at New York University
15.4%
of state students, in the top 5
1,154,131
students enrolled across New York
6,938
the #50 cutoff

Enrollment is total students reported in the OPE campus-safety disclosure for 2024, including online and distance learners. IPEDS supplies institution location and sector. The incident column is reported on-campus Clery Act incidents per 1,000 enrolled students.

Size joined to safety

These 50 largest institutions enroll 65.5% of New York's students; the other 334 reporting institutions hold the remaining 34.5%. Among the 50 mid-to-large campuses on this list, 32 sit below the 1.58 national median incident rate, and 3 also appear in the national safest-50.

65.5%
of state students, in these 50
32
below 1.58 national median /1k
3
also in national safest-50
1.39
New York University rate /1k

Incident rates are on-campus Clery Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students for campuses with enrollment ≥ 2,000 and a national safety rank. A lower rate is not a personal safety verdict, reporting culture and online enrollment dilute raw counts. See /rankings/safest-campuses for the size-fair national list.

Showing the top 50 of 384 New York institutions by enrollment (755,571 of 1,154,131 students, 65.5%). The remaining 334 reporting institutions enroll 34.5% of the state total and are omitted from this capped ranking, not from the underlying federal tables.

What this ranking shows about New York

New York is the 3rd largest US jurisdiction by total enrolment, teaching 5.8% of all reported US students. The 384 institutions reporting enrolment here split 106 public to 278 private, so neither sector defines the top of this list on its own.

Ranking by total enrolment puts institutions with large online programmes above institutions with larger physical campuses, because a virtual student body is not limited by classrooms or housing. A list of the biggest campuses by students physically present would order differently, and neither list is more correct, because they answer different questions. Enrolment here is the total headcount an institution reported to the federal OPE reporting cohort, which counts undergraduate and graduate students together and makes no distinction between full-time and part-time study. A university with a very large part-time or continuing-education population can therefore outrank one with more students on campus on any given weekday.

The incident-rate column is here because institution size changes how a raw incident count should be read, not because a larger university is more or less safe. Two institutions with the same number of reported incidents are not comparable if one enrols five times as many students, so the column expresses incidents per thousand enrolled. A rate still reflects reporting practice as much as underlying risk: an institution that encourages reporting and investigates thoroughly can record more incidents than one that does neither, and that is the opposite of what a naive reading suggests. Institutions where most students study online show diluted rates, because the denominator counts students who never set foot on a campus. Read the column as context for the size ranking, never as a safety verdict, and see our methodology for how both figures are assembled. For the same institutions ranked by cost rather than size, see the cheapest colleges rankings, or browse every institution we hold a record for.

Comparing states? See the 50 largest universities in the US, or this state's campus safety profile.

The bar to make New York's top-50 list is 6,938 students. Here is where that cutoff sits among all 384 New York institutions reporting enrollment:

The bar to make New York's top-50 list

Clery-reported enrollment · 384 New York institutions · 2024

6,938 Top 13% higher than 87% of 384 New York institutions

Show national distribution 0–6,000: 326 New York institutions (85%). Below this entry. 6,000–12,000: 31 New York institutions (8%). This entry sits in this band. 12,000–18,000: 14 New York institutions (4%). Above this entry. 18,000–24,000: 8 New York institutions (2%). Above this entry. 24,000–30,000: 2 New York institutions (1%). Above this entry. 30,000–36,000: 2 New York institutions (1%). Above this entry. 36,000–42,000: 0 New York institutions (0%). Above this entry. 42,000–48,000: 0 New York institutions (0%). Above this entry. 48,000–54,000: 0 New York institutions (0%). Above this entry. 54,000–60,000: 1 New York institutions (0%). Above this entry. #50 cutoff 0 60,000 every New York institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more New York institutions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey · 2024

The 50 largest of New York's 384 institutions

24
Pace UniversityNew York, NY · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
13,634
Incidents /1k
1.10
29
Touro UniversityNew York, NY · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
11,937
Incidents /1k
0.17
38
The New SchoolNew York, NY · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
9,068
Incidents /1k
0.99
39
Mercy UniversityDobbs Ferry, NY · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
8,991
Incidents /1k
1.22
47
SUNY BrockportBrockport, NY · Public
Enrollment
7,482
Incidents /1k
5.48
#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1New York UniversityNew York, NY · Private nonprofit56,832100% of the leader · rank #11.39
2Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY · Private nonprofit35,17362% of the leader · rank #25.12
3University at BuffaloBuffalo, NY · Public31,90356% of the leader · rank #31.88
4Cornell UniversityIthaca, NY · Private nonprofit26,79347% of the leader · rank #44.22
5Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY · Public26,68947% of the leader · rank #52.62
6Syracuse UniversitySyracuse, NY · Private nonprofit22,58940% of the leader · rank #64.60
7CUNY Hunter CollegeNew York, NY · Public22,53840% of the leader · rank #70.80
8CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community CollegeNew York, NY · Public20,12335% of the leader · rank #80.25
9CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeNew York, NY · Public20,08135% of the leader · rank #90.05
10Suffolk County Community CollegeSelden, NY · Public19,97335% of the leader · rank #100.35
11St. John's University-New YorkQueens, NY · Private nonprofit19,38934% of the leader · rank #111.50
12Binghamton UniversityVestal, NY · Public18,81633% of the leader · rank #128.93
13CUNY Kingsborough Community CollegeBrooklyn, NY · Public18,16532% of the leader · rank #130.17
14University at AlbanyAlbany, NY · Public17,56031% of the leader · rank #145.24
15Rochester Institute of TechnologyRochester, NY · Private nonprofit17,09830% of the leader · rank #153.10
16Long Island UniversityBrookville, NY · Private nonprofit16,68929% of the leader · rank #160.78
17Fordham UniversityBronx, NY · Private nonprofit16,15028% of the leader · rank #172.11
18CUNY Queens CollegeQueens, NY · Public15,96528% of the leader · rank #181.00
19CUNY City CollegeNew York, NY · Public15,54427% of the leader · rank #191.48
20CUNY LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City, NY · Public14,49426% of the leader · rank #200.07
21CUNY New York City College of TechnologyBrooklyn, NY · Public14,48625% of the leader · rank #210.69
22CUNY Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn, NY · Public14,39025% of the leader · rank #220.00
23CUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticeNew York, NY · Public13,76324% of the leader · rank #231.60
24Pace UniversityNew York, NY · Private nonprofit13,63424% of the leader · rank #241.10
25CUNY Lehman CollegeBronx, NY · Public13,32423% of the leader · rank #250.60
26Excelsior UniversityAlbany, NY · Private nonprofit12,94123% of the leader · rank #260.00
27Nassau Community CollegeGarden City, NY · Public12,30122% of the leader · rank #270.81
28University of RochesterRochester, NY · Private nonprofit11,94621% of the leader · rank #285.02
29Touro UniversityNew York, NY · Private nonprofit11,93721% of the leader · rank #290.17
30College of Staten Island CUNYStaten Island, NY · Public11,03319% of the leader · rank #300.91
31Hofstra UniversityHempstead, NY · Private nonprofit10,68519% of the leader · rank #312.15
32Empire State UniversitySaratoga Springs, NY · Public10,46918% of the leader · rank #320.00
33CUNY Queensborough Community CollegeBayside, NY · Public10,33718% of the leader · rank #330.48
34Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale, NY · Public10,03918% of the leader · rank #340.70
35CUNY Graduate School and University CenterNew York, NY · Public9,53617% of the leader · rank #350.10
36SUNY Westchester Community CollegeValhalla, NY · Public9,35916% of the leader · rank #360.85
37Hudson Valley Community CollegeTroy, NY · Public9,22716% of the leader · rank #370.22
38The New SchoolNew York, NY · Private nonprofit9,06816% of the leader · rank #380.99
39Mercy UniversityDobbs Ferry, NY · Private nonprofit8,99116% of the leader · rank #391.22
40Monroe Community CollegeRochester, NY · Public8,64115% of the leader · rank #402.43
41Onondaga Community CollegeSyracuse, NY · Public8,53715% of the leader · rank #412.58
42Fashion Institute of TechnologyNew York, NY · Public8,20614% of the leader · rank #420.73
43Monroe UniversityBronx, NY · Private for-profit8,14114% of the leader · rank #431.35
44Erie Community CollegeBuffalo, NY · Public8,09014% of the leader · rank #440.00
45State University of New York at New PaltzNew Paltz, NY · Public7,89814% of the leader · rank #452.41
46Adelphi UniversityGarden City, NY · Private nonprofit7,60313% of the leader · rank #464.74
47SUNY BrockportBrockport, NY · Public7,48213% of the leader · rank #475.48
48Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTroy, NY · Private nonprofit7,04012% of the leader · rank #481.56
49Yeshiva UniversityNew York, NY · Private nonprofit6,96512% of the leader · rank #490.43
50State University of New York at CortlandCortland, NY · Public6,93812% of the leader · rank #504.90

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for New York, not a verdict on any institution.

Institutions below the reporting floor, or without enrolment in the Campus Safety and Security Survey cohort for 2024, do not appear on this list. IPEDS supplies classification and location.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Safety and Security Survey (enrollment and Clery disclosures), joined to the IPEDS institutional directory (location and classification)

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is computed at request time from the federal source tables; no ranking position or count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-11.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.