Here Are the Top Colleges in New York City, According to Forbes

Unsurprisingly, Columbia leads the way among New York City colleges, according to Forbes' college rankings released Tuesday.

The Ivy League mainstay finished No. 16 overall on the rankings — the highest of any New York City school, but not the highest of any New York school. West Point's United States Military Academy (14) took that honor.

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The list overall wasn't especially kind to New York City schools.

New York University was the No. 2 school in the city, but ranked just 77th overall. Cooper Union came in third in New York City and No. 92 overall. Fordham came in fourth in New York City, but 145th overall. Yeshiva University rounded out the top 5 New York City schools.

Of course, Columbia, located in Morningside Heights, is also the most expensive college in the city. A year's tuition will cost you just over $69,000. NYU is the second-most expensive and Fordham is third-most expensive.

Here's a list of all the schools in New York City included on the list, with their overall ranking in parentheses.

Top New York City Colleges and Universities

1. Columbia University (16)
2. NYU (77)
3. Cooper Union (92)
4. Fordham University (145)
5. Yeshiva University (195)
6. City College of New York (228)
7. Manhattan College (233)
8. CUNY, Baruch College (258)
9. The New School (273)
10. CUNY, Queens College (277)
11. CUNY, Brooklyn College (288)
12. CUNY, Hunter College (291)
13. St. Francis College (405)
14. CUNY, Lehman College (408)
15. St. Joseph's College (NY) (440)
16. St. John's University (460)
17. Pace University (461)
18. CUNY, College of Staten Island (477)
19. CUNY, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (497)
20. Touro College (509)

Forbes used data from the Department of Education, along with payscale.com and the America's Leaders List to compile the rankings on the top 660 schools. They rated each school on post-graduate success, student debt, student satisfaction, graduation rate and academic success.

Photo Credit: Jan Ingar Grindheim via Flickr/Creative Commons