College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

CUNY Queens College

NYLarge public institution · Overall rank #61 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

A top-ranked affordability and earnings that beat expectations.

Who it’s a good fit for

CUNY Queens College is a public university in Queens, New York, where the degree mix is led by Social Sciences and Psychology. Affordability is among the highest we track, and most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market.

So the advantage is not simply a matter of program choice. Affordability is among the highest we track, and the sits below the median at comparable schools.

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 below the median for comparable schools, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

A student drawn to Psychology or Sociology should go in knowing that Computer Science, a smaller program, is where the highest earnings sit.

Queens College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
64.3%
Six-year completion[2]
53.2%
Four-year earnings[3]
$68,713

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$6,785
Median student debt[4]
$10,298
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$17,680

Queens College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

CUNY Queens College is a public university in Queens, New York, enrolling 12,550 undergraduates. The university sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (96th percentile).

CUNY Queens College admits 64.3% of applicants, a rate that is more selective than the 78.1% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Among first-time full-time students, 78.7% return for a second year, against a median of 83.1% for comparable institutions.

The six-year graduation rate for that first-time full-time cohort is 53.2%, against a median of 65.0% for comparable institutions. An estimated 40.7% of entrants are not first-time full-time students, so the graduation rate describes only a portion of the people who study here.

Affordability is the strongest of the four pillars that make up the composite, with access and mobility clustered close behind. Return is the weakest of the four pillars.

The distance between return and the other three is the only wide spread among the pillars.

Affordability is the strongest pillar, with Azimuth ranking it #8 among nonprofit four-year institutions. That pillar lands in the 99th percentile.

Access sits in the 95th percentile and mobility in the 93rd percentile. Return is the weakest pillar, in the 75th percentile.

Among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions, the university holds an overall Azimuth rank of #61. That composite position sits in the 96th percentile.

Pell Grant recipients make up 47.2% of the undergraduate population at CUNY Queens College. Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the 25th percentile was 1,010 and the 75th percentile was 1,290.

Azimuth ranks CUNY Queens College #75 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients complete within six years at 45.9%, a rate that sits 7.3 percentage points below the figure for the entering cohort as a whole (53.2%).

Azimuth ranks CUNY Queens College #104 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

Queens College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#61

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 93
Access & reach
National percentile: 95
Affordability
National percentile: 99
Return on investment
National percentile: 75

Top-ranked majors

  1. Communication Disorders Sciences and Services#2
  2. Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods#3
  3. Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas#3

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 / Queens College briefing

Queens College cost & financial aid[6][7]

Azimuth places CUNY Queens College at #8 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That standing places the affordability pillar in the 99th percentile.

As a public university in Queens, New York, the university lists a published cost of attendance of $14,367 (an average), a figure that covers tuition, fees, and living expenses. The standard budget includes $7,538 for in-state tuition and fees and $15,488 for out-of-state tuition and fees.

The room and board allowance is $17,132. These published charges form the sticker price before any aid is applied.

For the average aid recipient, the net price falls to $4,195, a discount of $10,172 from the sticker price. This average net price is below the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $11,439.

The published cost of attendance at CUNY Queens College is $14,367, an average across living arrangements. In-state tuition and fees are $7,538.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $1,541. For families in the $48,001–$75,000 band, it is $6,785, and for families earning over $110,000, it is $12,700.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $11,159. Azimuth ranks CUNY Queens College #8 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Financial aid reduces the sticker price by an average of $10,172, bringing the average net price across all aid recipients to $4,195. That figure is below the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $11,439.

Out-of-state students face a published tuition of $15,488, and room and board is listed at $17,132. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, the median federal student debt is $10,298.

That median is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions, a difference of $9,778. About 23.7% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

The median Parent PLUS borrowing is $17,680. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on the median federal debt is $117.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$6,785

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Queens College

Among undergraduates at CUNY Queens College, 23.7% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. For those who complete a degree, the median federal student debt at completion is $10,298.

Comparable institutions (same type and size) record a median federal debt of $20,076; the university's median is below that by $9,778. Parent borrowers form a separate population with a median Parent PLUS debt of $17,680.

CUNY Queens College combines a low-cost structure with earnings that run above the median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Four years after completion, graduates earn a median of $68,713, which places the university in the 74th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 81st percentile. Earnings scenarios anchored on the program mix show a typical earnings level of $68,713, with a downside scenario of $51,621 and an upside scenario of $90,610.

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median federal student debt of $10,298, which is below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $9,778. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment is $117.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $17,680. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $117.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$10,298
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$17,680

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$117/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$225/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 / Queens College briefing

Queens College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

The return pillar for CUNY Queens College sits at the 75th percentile of nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students, a figure in the 81st percentile nationally.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $3,031. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,028.

The STEM component within the measured factors adds $961. Four years after completion, completers at the university who are working and not enrolled post median earnings of $68,713, in the 74th percentile.

That is above the peer median of $65,610 by $3,103 among comparable institutions (same type and size).

Four years after completing their degrees, graduates of CUNY Queens College earn a median of $68,713, placing the university in the 74th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure is drawn from an earnings cohort of 2,615 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 81st percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a typical return of $68,713, a downside scenario of $51,621, and an upside scenario of $90,610.

An estimated 34.2% of programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Four years after completion, graduates of CUNY Queens College earn a median of $68,713, which places the public university in the 74th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure runs above the median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,103.

Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 81st percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $3,031.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,028. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $961.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $51,621 and an upside of $90,610. Azimuth ranks CUNY Queens College #371 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The largest bachelor's program is Psychology, with 691 degrees awarded and a median of $57,210 four years after completion. Computer Science awards 311 degrees and posts the highest median among the large programs at $112,903.

Accounting awards 337 degrees and shows a median of $69,956, while Economics awards 357 degrees and shows a median of $65,049.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, show the spread at CUNY Queens College. The downside earnings scenario is $51,621, the typical scenario is $68,713, and the upside scenario reaches $90,610.

These are not observed groups of graduates, but they illustrate the range. At the program level, Computer Science graduates report the highest median earnings at $112,903, from 311 degrees awarded a year.

Finance follows at $94,526, and Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language at $79,175.

At CUNY Queens College, the average net price is $4,195, $11,439 below the median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Aid recipients in the lowest income band pay $1,541 on average, while those in the highest band pay $12,700, a spread of $11,159.

Borrowers who finish hold a median of $10,298 in federal student loans, $9,778 below the peer median of $20,076. Repaying that median if repaid over ten years costs an estimated $117 a month.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $17,680 in Parent PLUS loans. Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students. A low net price and above-expected earnings point the same way.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$3,031
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$6,028
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$9,059

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 / Queens College briefing

Queens College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

CUNY Queens College admits 64.3% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
64.3%
Approximate lower endpoint
1010
Reported average
1120
Approximate upper endpoint
1290

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 / Queens College briefing

What are the largest majors at Queens College?[12]

The largest programs at CUNY Queens College span a wide earnings range. Computer Science graduates earn $112,903 four years after completion, while Psychology graduates earn $57,210.

The highest-earning field is also one of the larger ones, and the most popular program sits at the lower end of the spread. Psychology awards 691 degrees a year, the most of any program.

Azimuth ranks it #35 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Computer Science awards 311 degrees a year, and Azimuth ranks it #58 nationally in its field.

Accounting sits between the two in scale, with 337 degrees awarded, median earnings of $69,956, and an Azimuth national rank of #97.

CUNY Queens College has 17 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, and several sit near the top of their fields. Communication Disorders Sciences and Services ranks #2 nationally and #1 in New York, with 104 degrees awarded and median earnings of $78,281 four years after completion.

Teacher Education and Subject-Area Teacher Education both rank #3 nationally. The largest program is Psychology, at 691 degrees awarded and median earnings of $57,210.

The highest-earning program is Computer Science, with 311 degrees awarded and median earnings of $112,903.

CUNY Queens College awards degrees across 17 ranked programs, with earnings data available for 25. The largest program families are Social Sciences and Psychology, which together account for roughly two-fifths of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Psychology is the largest single program at 691 degrees awarded, followed by Economics at 357 and Accounting at 337. The highest-ranked program is Communication Disorders Sciences and Services, which awards 104 degrees and ranks #1 in New York within its field.

Its graduates earn a median of $78,281 four years after completion. Teacher Education awards 140 degrees and ranks #3 nationally within its field, with median earnings of $67,221.

Computer Science is the highest-earning program, at $112,903 from 311 degrees awarded. Finance follows at $94,526, though it is a smaller program with 78 degrees awarded.

Subject-Area Teacher Education stands out for its return: a benchmark ratio of 1.50x against the national median for its field, with median earnings of $76,925. The pattern is one of concentrated strength in education and health-related fields, where several programs hold top-five national ranks.

The largest programs in social sciences and psychology are solid but not the best-paid, while the highest earnings come from a smaller set of business and technology programs. Across all fields, 15.8% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 691 degrees awarded
$57,210
Economics 357 degrees awarded
$65,049
Accounting and Related Services 337 degrees awarded
$69,956
Computer Science 311 degrees awarded
$112,903
Sociology 195 degrees awarded
$56,550
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 140 degrees awarded
$67,221

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 / Queens College briefing

How does Queens College serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth ranks CUNY Queens College #104 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the mobility pillar in the 93rd percentile.

Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at a rate of 45.9%, which is below the overall six-year graduation rate of 53.2% by 7.3 percentage points. Graduates earn about $9,059 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 81st percentile nationally.

Azimuth places the access pillar of CUNY Queens College in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 64.3% of applicants, a rate that is more selective than the peer median of 78.1%.

Pell Grant recipients make up 47.2% of the 12,550 undergraduates, and an estimated 40.7% of the student body enters as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Queens College briefing

What colleges are similar to Queens College?[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 Queens College.

Admissions peerCUNY Brooklyn College58.4% admitted
Comparison with Queens College
MeasureQueens CollegeCUNY Brooklyn College
Peer earnings · 4 years$68,713$62,833-$5,880 vs Queens College
Average annual net price$4,195$3,103-$1,092 vs Queens College · lower cost
Admission rate64.3%58.4%
Explore CUNY Brooklyn College →
Higher-admission alternativeManhattanville University87.3% admitted
Comparison with Queens College
MeasureQueens CollegeManhattanville University
Peer earnings · 4 years$68,713$68,011-$702 vs Queens College
Average annual net price$4,195$20,991+$16,796 vs Queens College · higher cost
Admission rate64.3%87.3%
Nearby alternativeBarnard CollegeNearby option · NY
Comparison with Queens College
MeasureQueens CollegeBarnard College
Peer earnings · 4 years$68,713$72,527+$3,814 vs Queens College
Average annual net price$4,195$28,800+$24,605 vs Queens College · higher cost
Admission rate64.3%8.8%
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Florida$77,321 earnings
Comparison with Queens College
MeasureQueens CollegeUniversity of Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$68,713$77,321+$8,608 vs Queens College
Average annual net price$4,195$4,815+$620 vs Queens College · higher cost
Admission rate64.3%61.3%
Explore University of Florida →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Hunter College$2,984 average net price
Comparison with Queens College
MeasureQueens CollegeCUNY Hunter College
Peer earnings · 4 years$68,713$73,236+$4,523 vs Queens College
Average annual net price$4,195$2,984-$1,211 vs Queens College · lower cost
Admission rate64.3%53.8%
Explore CUNY Hunter College →
Similar profileCUNY City CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with Queens College
MeasureQueens CollegeCUNY City College
Peer earnings · 4 years$68,713$67,740-$973 vs Queens College
Average annual net price$4,195$3,776-$419 vs Queens College · lower cost
Admission rate64.3%60.0%
Explore CUNY City 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 uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. 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