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
SUNY Maritime College Throggs Neck, New York	72%
SUNY Brockport Brockport, New York	71%
SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, New York	70%
University at Albany Albany, New York	69%
CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, New York	68%
SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, New York	66%
CUNY Queens College Queens, New York	64%
CUNY York College Jamaica, New York	64%
Farmingdale State College Farmingdale, New York	63%
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, New York	63%
State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, New York	62%
CUNY City College New York, New York	60%
Fashion Institute of Technology New York, New York	60%
State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, New York	60%
CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, New York	58%
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, New York	57%
CUNY Lehman College Bronx, New York	57%
CUNY Hunter College New York, New York	54%

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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.