Cortland ranks among top 15% of nation's best universities

02/03/2023 

SUNY Cortland has been ranked among the top 15% of the nation’s best universities and colleges on College Factual’s 2023 Best Colleges list.  

The report, intended to compare the institutions’ overall quality, ranked Cortland 298 out of 2,241 schools across the United States. That’s the highest of all 13 comparable SUNY campuses.  

In addition, College Factual, an online portal for higher education information, noted that several of Cortland’s academic programs were among the best in the Mid-Atlantic Region. They include parks, recreation and leisure studies, physical education, subject-specific teacher education, exercise science, sport management, special education and teaching English as a second language.  

College Factual describes itself as website designed to help prospective college students, parents, guidance counselors and others navigate the often-confusing college selection process. 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. 

Among the statistics that helped Cortland rank high among its national peers is a student loan default rate of 3.5%. This figure is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1% and indicates a level of financial success uncommon among graduates of most other universities. 

In general, students who graduate from SUNY Cortland with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $53,711 in their early post-college years. College Factual calculates that as 26% more than the average college graduate's starting salary of $42,485. 

In addition, a full 59% of faculty at Cortland are listed as full time, more than the 47% national average. College Factual touts that as an indication that students at Cortland receive more time and focus from their professors than at many other universities.