With all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take when you want to pursue a grad degree. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Best Master's Degree Colleges in New York ranking is part of that endeavor.
We analyzed 86 grad schools across New York to determine which have the best master's degree programs. Our ranking methodology focuses on different objective factors to make this determination of the best grad schools. In the next few paragraphs, we'll talk a little about what we use in our analysis and why.
Early-Career Salaries Are Higher
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. A master's degree holder from a school in New York makes an average starting salary of $61,893, but the students who attended schools in the top 23 of our list make an average of $63,225.
Starting Salary ( 51211 to 73954 )
Average Student Debt
Graduate students may also take on a lot of debt while working on their master's so we factor that into our rankings as well.
The average debt load at a particular school may not be bad, but it's an important thing to consider in conjunction with post-graduation earnings.
Other Ranking Factors in Our Methodology
In addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt loads, we also look at a host of other factors to determining our Best Master's Degree Schools ranking.
Several other factors - such as how much the school spends on educational resources, the demand of the school, the availability of online learning options, and the student body caliber - go into our rankings.
If you'd rather work on your master's degree in a specific area of the country, you might be interested in our rankings by place. Also, you may want to check out our other college rankings.
Our analysis found Teachers College at Columbia University to be the best grad school for master’s degrees in New York in this year’s ranking. Teachers College is located in New York, New York and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,727 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from Teachers College is $59,304 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #2 on our Best Master’s Degree in New York list means Columbia University in the City of New York is a great place for students working on their degree. Columbia University in the City of New York is a large private not-for-profit school located in New York, New York that handed out 8,527 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from Columbia make an average of $75,670 a year.
A rank of #3 on our Best Master’s Degree in New York list means Cornell University is a great place for students working on their degree. Ithaca, New York is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out master’s degrees to 2,888 students in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $91,796 during the early years of their career.
A rank of #4 on our Best Master’s Degree in New York list means New York University is a great place for students working on their degree. This large private not-for-profit school is located in New York, New York, and it awarded 9,064 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $66,757 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Yeshiva University. The school came in at #5 in New York on this year’s best master’s degree schools ranking. Yeshiva University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in New York, New York that handed out 548 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from Yeshiva is $49,324 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #6, Fordham University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in Bronx, New York, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 2,617 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from Fordham U make an average of $64,593 a year.
Syracuse University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. Syracuse is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Syracuse, New York. It awarded 2,698 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from Syracuse make an average of $55,004 per year during the early years of their career.
Hunter College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. New York, New York is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out master’s degrees to 2,089 students in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from Hunter go into careers with an average salary of $62,583 during the early years of their career.
The Graduate Center, CUNY did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking, coming in at #9. This medium-sized public school is located in New York, New York, and it awarded 1,480 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from The Graduate Center make an average of $59,533 per year during the early years of their career.
University of Rochester ranked #10 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. This fairly large private not-for-profit school is located in Rochester, New York, and it awarded 1,436 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from University of Rochester is $63,624 during the early years of their career.
Touro College did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking, coming in at #11. Touro is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in New York, New York. It awarded 1,476 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from Touro make an average of $68,621 a year.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute did quite well in the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking, coming in at #12. Located in Troy, New York, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 486 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a master’s degree from RPI make an average of $80,297 per year during the early years of their career.
Fashion Institute of Technology came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. Fashion Institute of Technology is a medium-sized public school located in New York, New York that handed out 93 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #14, Stony Brook University did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Stony Brook, New York is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out master’s degrees to 2,480 students in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from SUNY Stony Brook go into careers with an average salary of $62,914 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #15, Baruch College did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in New York, New York, the fairly large public school awarded 1,474 diplomas to qualifed master’s degree students in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from Baruch make an average of $74,137 a year.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. John Jay is located in New York, New York and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 692 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
Those who receive a master’s degree from John Jay go into careers with an average salary of $51,506 during the early years of their career.
Hofstra University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in Hempstead, New York, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 1,229 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The average salary of a graduate with a master’s degree from Hofstra is $60,935 during the early years of their career.
The New School ranked #18 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in New York, New York, the fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 977 diplomas to qualifed master’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $46,091 during the early years of their career.
Queens College ranked #19 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. This fairly large public school is located in Queens, New York, and it awarded 1,024 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Upon graduation, master’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $56,420 during the early years of their career.
Rochester Institute of Technology came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. RIT is located in Rochester, New York and has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,146 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from RIT make an average of $78,927 a year.
With a ranking of #21, Brooklyn College did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in Brooklyn, New York, the fairly large public school handed out 1,061 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from Brooklyn College make an average of $54,848 a year.
With a ranking of #22, Manhattanville College did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Manhattanville is located in Purchase, New York and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 251 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
Those who receive a master’s degree from Manhattanville go into careers with an average salary of $56,941 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #23, Lehman College did quite well on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in Bronx, New York, the fairly large public school awarded 832 diplomas to qualifed master’s degree students in 2020-2021.
Those who receive a master’s degree from Lehman go into careers with an average salary of $67,594 during the early years of their career.
University at Buffalo came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. University at Buffalo is located in Buffalo, New York and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 2,377 master’s degrees to qualified graduate students.
During the early years of their career, master’s degree graduates from University at Buffalo make an average of $46,753 a year.
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry landed the #25 spot on the 2024 Best Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry is a small public school located in Syracuse, New York that handed out 58 master’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
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