Best Online Colleges in New York of 2025

University Headquarters (HQ) is an industry-leading, independent educational organization that provides independent college rankings using a proprietary formula to create first class, unbiased rankings. The team at University HQ strives to provide accurate and trustworthy rankings that highlight the best programs in New York.

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New York is a vibrant East Coast state with plenty of economic opportunities, and it is best known as the home of the world-renowned New York City. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of March 2022, there are around 9.38 million workers in New York’s civilian labor force and a relatively low unemployment rate of 4.2%. Top industries in New York include Education & Health Services, which employs more than 2.08 million individuals; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities, which employs 1.47 million people; and Government, which employs 1.46 million workers. The BLS has recorded a mean hourly wage of $33.87 and a median hourly wage of $23.46 across the state. The annual mean wage is $70,460 in the state, though certain professionals like financial managers can expect to earn an annual mean wage of $206,990.

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Online Higher Education in New York

New York has many stand-out universities that students can choose from should they decide to pursue online education opportunities. Below are some questions that will provide a quick overview of education in the state.

How many distance learning students are enrolled in higher education in New York?
Overall, in New York, there are around more than 1.2 million students currently enrolled in a college or university. Of that, around 961,000 are undergraduate students and 244,000 are graduate students. Students who undertake some form of online learning are the majority, with approximately 617,000 students studying online exclusively and 316,000 taking some form of a hybrid approach to learning.

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What is the average cost of tuition on campus compared to online in New York?

New York has several public and private universities, which means that the average cost of tuition can differ dramatically depending on the type of school that a student chooses. On the expensive side, Columbia University can cost more than $63,000 per year to attend. However, at the undergraduate level, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2021-2022 academic year for in-state residents is $7,186, while out-of-state students can expect to pay an average of $14,247 per year. Moreover, the average student can expect to pay an average of $1,085 every year for books and supplies.

The true cost of attendance for distance learners depends on the type of degree a student is pursuing, as well as the institution granting the degree. Some universities will offer tuition discounts for remote students, while some neighboring states have reciprocity agreements with New York that grant students reduced tuition rates. However, most online students can expect to pay around the same in tuition and fees as those living on campus, though they will certainly save on areas like housing expenses and commuting. The average student living on campus in New York spends around $14,900 in living costs, a significant amount of which distance learners can save.
How do I qualify for in-state tuition in New York?
Prospective students will generally qualify for New York in-state tuition if they have legally resided in the state at least one year before the first day of class for the semester in which they are admitted to a university in the state. Often, students can submit copies of items like a driver’s license or other proof of residency if necessary to earn resident status.
What are the best online colleges in New York?
Many online post-secondary degree programs are offered by New York’s top institutions. This allows students the ability to incorporate both flexibility and prestige into their college search. In particular, well-known schools like New York University, Stony Brook University, Syracuse University, Excelsior College, and Marist College all offer online programs.

Our School Rankings Methodology

Many students do not have the luxury of visiting a prospective college in person before deciding whether or not they will attend the school. As such, college rankings can play a crucial role in helping a student determine if the school is the best fit for their needs.

To maintain fairness and accuracy when crafting our ranking methodology, only those with online programs were considered for this list. More importantly, we only collected data from unbiased, reliable sources, mostly referring to government websites when possible. When determining a college’s ranking, important factors included items like overall graduation rate, cost of tuition, and average post-graduation salary, which are important indicators that help students decide if their educational investment will pay off in the long run. Additionally, other items like reputation and student-to-faculty ratio were also considered to provide a better gauge of the quality of education students would receive from the program.