11/18/2024
SUNY Cortland continues to be among the best higher education options in the U.S., according to College Factual.
The popular education ranking website recognized the university as 218th out of 2,152 on its “2025 Best Colleges in the United States” list. As a bachelor’s degree-granting school, Cortland was 195th out of 1,398 schools in the country — the highest of all 13 comparable SUNY campuses for the second straight year.
Helping to boost Cortland’s scores were high-ranking degree programs rated as standout options for high school seniors looking to take their next step toward a career.
The university’s degree programs were among the best in multiple categories, including:
- In the top 3.2% at #12 out of 374 schools for Best Teacher Education Subject Specific Bachelor’s Degree Schools
- In the top 3% at #16 out of 533 schools for Best Health & Physical Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools
- In the top 8.5% at #17 out of 200 schools for Best Special Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools
- In the top 3.5% at #18 out of 502 schools for Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools
- In the top 4.5% at #30 out of 654 schools for Best Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools
- In the top 9.6% at #61 out of 630 schools for Best Teacher Education Grade Specific Bachelor’s Degree Schools
“This type of recognition speaks to the extraordinary education that students discover at SUNY Cortland, across so many different disciplines,” President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “From the arts and sciences to education to in-demand professional fields, our campus is home to many excellent programs. These accolades reinforce the breadth of academic opportunity that exists for our Cortland students.”
College Factual describes itself as a website designed to help prospective college students, parents, guidance counselors and others navigate the often-confusing college selection process. Among the factors it considers are:
- Major Focus — How much a school focuses on subject specific students compared to other majors.
- Major Demand — The number of subject-specific students who choose to seek a bachelor’s degree at the school.
- Educational Resources — How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt — How much debt subject-specific students take on to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay it back.
- Accreditation — Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized teacher education subject-specific related body.
The information used to determine its rankings include data from the National Center for Education Statistics, and the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Personal student experience is also weighed, with graduates’ employment success and earnings factoring into final placements.
Factual listed 59% of faculty at Cortland as full time, more than the 47% national average, which the site says is an indication that students at Cortland receive more time and focus from their professors than the average school. A first-year retention rate of 80% also shows that students enjoy the university enough to stay as a sophomore.
The new accolades for SUNY Cortland follow other recent recognition, including as one of the best schools for online education degrees and a top 5% sport education program.