New York Public Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 41 public colleges in New York with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. Empire State University leads the list by accepting 100% of high school students that applied.

Acceptance rate is a measure of the competitiveness of a school. Lower acceptance rates are more competitive and may require a higher GPA, SAT/ACT score, and other factors to be considered for admission.

List of New York Public Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
Empire State University Saratoga Springs, New York	100%
College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, New York	92%
SUNY College of Technology at Canton Canton, New York	92%
SUNY Morrisville Morrisville, New York	92%
SUNY College of Technology at Delhi Delhi, New York	89%
CUNY Medgar Evers College Brooklyn, New York	86%
SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill Cobleskill, New York	84%
SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury, New York	84%
SUNY Polytechnic Institute Utica, New York	81%
State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, New York	81%
CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, New York	80%
SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, New York	78%
SUNY College at Potsdam Potsdam, New York	78%
State University of New York at Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, New York	78%
SUNY College of Technology at Alfred Alfred, New York	76%
University at Buffalo Buffalo, New York	74%
SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, New York	74%
SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo, New York	73%

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: March 15, 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.