Research brief & institution hub

College of Staten Island CUNY

NYMedium public institution · Overall rank #93 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Affordability in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

College of Staten Island CUNY is a public university in Staten Island, New York, where the degree mix is led by Psychology, Business, and Social Sciences. Affordability is among the highest we track.

Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study. Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools.

The model attributes more of that gain to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures. At the bottom of the income scale, aid recipients pay well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is among the highest we track. The admission rate is above the median for comparable institutions, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

A student drawn to Psychology or English Language and Literature should go in knowing that Nursing and Electrical Engineering graduates report the highest earnings four years out.

College of Staten Island CUNY at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
92.3%
Six-year completion[2]
33.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$65,495

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$7,364
Median student debt[4]
$14,350
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$15,568

College of Staten Island CUNY rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

College of Staten Island CUNY is a public university in Staten Island, New York, enrolling 9,657 undergraduates. Its composite standing is near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (94th percentile).

The university admits 92.3% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among first-time full-time students, 75.7% return for a second year, against a comparable median of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate is 33.9%, while the median for similar schools is 49.1%. An estimated 26.9% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the first-time full-time graduation rate describes only a portion of the student body.

Affordability is the strongest (97th percentile) and return the weakest (76th percentile). Mobility (91st percentile) and access (86th percentile) sit between them, closer to each other than to either extreme.

The four pillars are spread across a wide band rather than clustered tightly together.

Azimuth places College of Staten Island CUNY in the 94th percentile among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The strongest pillar is affordability, which sits in the 97th percentile and anchors the university's overall position.

Mobility sits in the 91st percentile, and access lands in the 86th percentile. Return is the weakest pillar, in the 76th percentile, though all four pillars sit above the median for nonprofit four-year institutions.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores fell between 890 and 1,250, with 49.6% of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks College of Staten Island CUNY #206 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 27.7%, which is 6.2 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (33.9%). Azimuth ranks the university #129 for mobility. Graduates earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

College of Staten Island CUNY rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#93

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 91
Access & reach
National percentile: 86
Affordability
National percentile: 97
Return on investment
National percentile: 76

Top-ranked majors

  1. Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods#1
  2. Sociology and Anthropology#1
  3. Psychology, General#32

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / College of Staten Island CUNY briefing

College of Staten Island CUNY cost & financial aid[6][7]

At College of Staten Island CUNY, in-state tuition and fees are $7,490; out-of-state tuition and fees are $15,440. Room and board are published at $21,155.

The total cost of attendance is $14,795, an average across living arrangements. For first-time full-time aid recipients, the average net price is $5,579, which is $9,216 less than the published sticker total.

Aid covers about 62% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The university's is $8,489 below the peer median of $14,068 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

For affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth places College of Staten Island CUNY at #39. That places the affordability pillar in the 97th percentile.

The published cost of attendance is $14,795, and the average aid recipient pays far less than that. Azimuth ranks College of Staten Island CUNY #39 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 average $3,903, those earning $48,001 to $75,000 average $7,364, and those earning over $110,000 average $13,444. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $9,541.

Aid covers about 62% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The average net price across all aid recipients is $5,579, which is $8,489 below the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $14,350 in federal student loans. That is $6,879 below the peer median—the median for comparable institutions—of $21,229.

About 28.2% of federal aid recipients take a federal loan. If repaid over ten years, that median debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $163 a month.

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $15,568.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$7,364

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at College of Staten Island CUNY

28.2% of federal aid recipients at College of Staten Island CUNY take out federal loans. Among completers who borrowed, the median federal student debt at completion is $14,350.

Relative to comparable institutions (same type and size), that median falls below the median of $21,229 by $6,879. Parent borrowers, tracked as a distinct population, hold a median Parent PLUS loan of $15,568.

Graduates of College of Staten Island CUNY earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that outcome in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Median earnings four years after completion are $65,495, standing in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios for the mix of programs offered show a typical level of $65,495, a downside case of $53,076, and an upside case of $85,794. At completion, student borrowers hold a median federal debt of $14,350, a total that falls below the median of $21,229 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $6,879. The estimated monthly payment if repaid over ten years is $163.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $15,568. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $163.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$14,350
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$15,568

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$163/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$198/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / College of Staten Island CUNY briefing

College of Staten Island CUNY career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $65,495. That is at the 67th percentile nationally, and $8,194 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 90th percentile.

Azimuth places the college in the 76th percentile for return. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $5,454. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $8,248.

Four years after completion, graduates of College of Staten Island CUNY earn a median of $65,495, a level that falls in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median sits above the $57,301 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $8,194.

Azimuth bases the figure on 1,951 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Graduates earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students, and Azimuth places the university in the 90th percentile for earnings beyond expectations among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth models three earnings scenarios from the program mix: a typical outcome of $65,495, a downside of $53,076, and an upside of $85,794. The model estimates graduate-school continuation at 35.3% of programs' graduates, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Four years after completion, graduates of College of Staten Island CUNY earn a median of $65,495, which places the public university in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs above the median of $57,301 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $8,194.

Graduates earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 90th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,454.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $8,248. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $1,868.

Azimuth ranks College of Staten Island CUNY #347 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $53,076 and an upside of $85,794.

The largest program, Psychology, awarded 357 degrees and shows median earnings of $59,741 four years after completion. Business/Commerce follows with 212 degrees awarded and a median of $60,530.

The highest earnings among the university's programs come from Nursing, where 44 degrees awarded carry a median of $113,631, which is 1.28x the national median for the field. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science also rank among the top earners, with medians of $92,542 and $89,093 respectively, alongside 40 and 85 degrees awarded.

Earnings vary widely by program at College of Staten Island CUNY. The scenario range runs from $53,076 for lower-earning clusters to $85,794 for higher-earning ones.

Nursing reports $113,631 four years after completion. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science show $92,542 and $89,093 at the same horizon. The largest program, Psychology, sits at $59,741.

College of Staten Island CUNY pairs a net price that runs below the peer median with a median federal debt that is below the median for comparable institutions. Those institutions share the same type and size.

The average net price for first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients is $5,579, below the peer median of $14,068 by $8,489. For aid recipients from families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $3,903, and for aid recipients the spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $9,541.

Aid covers about 62% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $14,350, which is below the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on that debt is $163. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $15,568.

Graduates earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students. That earnings outcome coincides with a net price below the peer median and a median federal debt below the peer median.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,454
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$8,248
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$13,702

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / College of Staten Island CUNY briefing

College of Staten Island CUNY acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

College of Staten Island CUNY admits 92.3% of applicants, a rate that reflects its broad-access mission as a public university. The median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size) sits below the university's rate.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
92.3%
Approximate lower endpoint
890
Reported average
1040
Approximate upper endpoint
1250

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / College of Staten Island CUNY briefing

What are the largest majors at College of Staten Island CUNY?[12]

The highest-earning programs at College of Staten Island CUNY are not the ones awarding the most degrees. Nursing graduates earn $113,631 four years after completion, but the program awards only 44 degrees a year.

Azimuth ranks it #50 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. The largest program is Psychology, with 357 degrees awarded and median earnings of $59,741.

Azimuth ranks it #32 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Computer Science is a middle ground: 85 degrees awarded and earnings of $89,093, ranking #136 nationally.

English Language and Literature is a more moderate-earning field, with 120 degrees and earnings of $53,083, ranked #51 by Azimuth.

College of Staten Island CUNY has 13 nationally ranked bachelor's programs. The strongest is Sociology and Anthropology: Azimuth ranks it #1 within its field nationally and #1 in New York.

It awarded 77 degrees, and completers earned a median of $50,716 four years after finishing. The largest program is Psychology, with 357 degrees awarded, a national rank of #32, and completers earning a median of $59,741 four years after completion.

Business/Commerce is the second largest, with 212 degrees awarded, a national rank of #36, and completers earning a median of $60,530. The highest-earning program is Nursing, ranked #50 nationally, where completers earned a median of $113,631 four years after completion.

It awarded 44 degrees. Computer Science follows, with a national rank of #136, 85 degrees awarded, and completers earning a median of $89,093.

Psychology accounts for 21.1% of bachelor's degrees awarded at College of Staten Island CUNY, with Business next at 17.7% and Social Sciences at 9.7%. The university has 13 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 19 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Psychology, at 357 degrees awarded a year, followed by Business/Commerce at 212 and English Language and Literature at 120. Sociology and Anthropology is the highest-ranked program, at #1 nationally and #1 in New York within its field, with 77 degrees awarded.

Teacher Education also ranks #1 in New York within its field, awarding 52 degrees a year. Graduates of Teacher Education earn a median of $75,637 four years after completion.

Nursing is the highest-earning program, with a median of $113,631 from 44 degrees awarded. Electrical Engineering follows at $92,542, with 40 degrees awarded.

Teacher Education carries a benchmark ratio of 1.60x against the national median for its field. The strongest programs are concentrated in the social sciences and education, with top national and state ranks in both.

The largest programs are not the highest-earning ones: Psychology and Business/Commerce award the most degrees, while Nursing and Electrical Engineering lead on pay. Across all fields, 21.3% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 357 degrees awarded
$59,741
Business/Commerce, General 212 degrees awarded
$60,530
English Language and Literature, General 120 degrees awarded
$53,083
Biology, General 106 degrees awarded
$57,540
Accounting and Related Services 88 degrees awarded
$72,242
Computer Science 85 degrees awarded
$89,093

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / College of Staten Island CUNY briefing

How does College of Staten Island CUNY serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places College of Staten Island CUNY in the 91st percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates four years after completion earn about $13,702 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that falls in the 90th percentile.

Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at a rate of 27.7%, a rate below the overall six-year graduation rate of 33.9% by 6.2 percentage points.

Azimuth places the access pillar of College of Staten Island CUNY in the 86th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 92.3% of applicants and enrolls 9,657 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients make up 49.6% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 26.9% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / College of Staten Island CUNY briefing

What colleges are similar to College of Staten Island CUNY?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with College of Staten Island CUNY.

Admissions peerUniversity of Mount Saint Vincent85.1% admitted
Comparison with College of Staten Island CUNY
MeasureCollege of Staten Island CUNYUniversity of Mount Saint Vincent
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,495$83,648+$18,153 vs College of Staten Island CUNY
Average annual net price$5,579$21,696+$16,117 vs College of Staten Island CUNY · higher cost
Admission rate92.3%85.1%
Explore University of Mount Saint Vincent →
Nearby alternativeCUNY City CollegeNearby option · NY
Comparison with College of Staten Island CUNY
MeasureCollege of Staten Island CUNYCUNY City College
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,495$67,740+$2,245 vs College of Staten Island CUNY
Average annual net price$5,579$3,776-$1,803 vs College of Staten Island CUNY · lower cost
Admission rate92.3%60.0%
Explore CUNY City College →
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Maine at Fort Kent$74,979 earnings
Comparison with College of Staten Island CUNY
MeasureCollege of Staten Island CUNYUniversity of Maine at Fort Kent
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,495$74,979+$9,484 vs College of Staten Island CUNY
Average annual net price$5,579$7,482+$1,903 vs College of Staten Island CUNY · higher cost
Admission rate92.3%97.9%
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Hunter College$2,984 average net price
Comparison with College of Staten Island CUNY
MeasureCollege of Staten Island CUNYCUNY Hunter College
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,495$73,236+$7,741 vs College of Staten Island CUNY
Average annual net price$5,579$2,984-$2,595 vs College of Staten Island CUNY · lower cost
Admission rate92.3%53.8%
Explore CUNY Hunter College →
Similar profileFarmingdale State CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with College of Staten Island CUNY
MeasureCollege of Staten Island CUNYFarmingdale State College
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,495$65,444-$51 vs College of Staten Island CUNY
Average annual net price$5,579$10,867+$5,288 vs College of Staten Island CUNY · higher cost
Admission rate92.3%63.3%
Explore Farmingdale State College →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings