College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Stony Brook University

NYLarge public institution · Overall rank #45 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Earnings well above expectations.

Who it’s a good fit for

The fit is clearest for a student who wants a large public university in New York where Pell Grant recipients finish at nearly the same rate as everyone else. Stony Brook University is a public university where the largest degree families are Biological Sciences, Health Professions, and Social Sciences, and mobility is among the highest we track.

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

Pell Grant recipients complete within a few points of the entering cohort as a whole, and access is among the highest we track. The lowest income band pays well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are much smaller.

Stony Brook at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
49.0%
Six-year completion[2]
75.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$81,850

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$20,728
Median student debt[4]
$18,228
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$21,400

Stony Brook rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Stony Brook University is a public university in Stony Brook, New York, enrolling 18,101 undergraduates. Its composite standing is in the top tier of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (97th percentile).

Admission is more selective than the norm for comparable institutions of the same type and size: the university admits 49.0% of applicants, while the peer median sits at 78.1%. Once enrolled, students tend to stay.

89.8% return for a second year, compared with a peer median of 83.1%. The six-year graduation rate is 75.6%, well above the peer median of 65.0%.

An estimated 25.0% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation rate—which tracks only first-time, full-time students—describes a narrower group than the full student body. The four are spread out.

Mobility is the strongest (97th percentile), and access is close behind (95th percentile). Return is high (89th percentile), while affordability is the weakest of the four (71st percentile).

Azimuth ranks Stony Brook University #45 among nonprofit four-year institutions. The strongest pillar is mobility, at the 97th percentile.

Access is also strong, in the 95th percentile, while return on investment sits at the 89th percentile. Affordability is the weakest pillar, at the 71st percentile, though it still ranks in the top third of institutions among nonprofit four-year institutions.

39.4% of undergraduates at Stony Brook University receive Pell Grants. The university is a public university in Stony Brook, New York, and that share of federal aid recipients is one of the measures that shapes its access pillar.

Azimuth ranks the university #79 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients complete at 74.1%, 1.5 percentage points below the overall rate (75.6%).

Azimuth ranks Stony Brook University #49 for mobility. Graduates earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

Stony Brook rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#45

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 97
Access & reach
National percentile: 95
Affordability
National percentile: 71
Return on investment
National percentile: 89

Top-ranked majors

  1. Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General#3
  2. Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions#3
  3. Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services#8

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 / Stony Brook briefing

Stony Brook cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at Stony Brook University is $30,539. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $7,070 and required fees of $3,861 for the 2026-27 academic year, with on-campus food and housing at $18,874.

Out-of-state students face a published tuition of $31,050. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $18,784, which is $3,150 above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #411 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Stony Brook University publishes a cost of attendance of $30,539. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $12,943.

The reaches $20,728 for the $48,001–$75,000 band and $27,716 for families earning over $110,000. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $14,773.

Azimuth ranks the university #411 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 38% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of roughly $11,755.

The average net price for first-time, full-time Title IV aid recipients is $18,784, which is above the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,150. The median federal student loan debt at completion is $18,228.

About 78.1% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. That median is below the peer median of $20,076 by $1,848.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $21,400. If repaid over ten years, a graduate with the median federal debt would face an estimated monthly payment of $207.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$20,728

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Stony Brook

78.1% of federal aid recipients borrow through federal programs. That median is below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,848.

The median Parent PLUS loan, measured among parent borrowers alone, is $21,400. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 46% of a 3,030-graduate bachelor's cohort borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative principal of $25,283 per borrower.

Federal loans covered 45% of these graduates, averaging $19,044 per borrower, of whom 7% also held private loans averaging $43,679.

At Stony Brook University, the investment picture is shaped by earnings that outpace the model's expectation and borrowing that sits below the peer median. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $81,850.

Azimuth places that figure in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 90th percentile.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $55,215 in a downside case to $94,529 in an upside case, with $81,850 as the typical scenario. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $18,228 in federal student loans, $1,848 below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $207 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings and borrowing point the same way here: graduates out-earn the model's expectation, and the median debt sits below the peer median.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $21,400. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $207.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$18,228
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$21,400

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$207/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$272/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 / Stony Brook briefing

Stony Brook career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Stony Brook University who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $81,850, in the 90th percentile. That is $16,240 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $7,835.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,509. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $5,046.

Azimuth places the return pillar at the 89th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completing their degrees, graduates of Stony Brook University earn a median of $81,850, a figure that places the university in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The earnings cohort includes 4,825 completers.

Graduates earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that performance lands in the 90th percentile.

Scenarios modeled from the program mix range from $55,215 on the downside to $94,529 on the upside; the typical earnings scenario is $81,850. The model estimates graduate-school continuation at 38.0%, a figure derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Working graduates of Stony Brook University who are not enrolled earn $81,850 four years after completion, $16,240 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That places those median earnings in the 90th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth ranks the university #164 for the return pillar among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result 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 $7,835.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $6,509. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $5,046.

The bachelor's program mix tilts toward health and the sciences, including substantial STEM representation. Estimated earnings scenarios from that mix range from $55,215 on the downside to $94,529 on the upside across fields.

An estimated 38.0% of graduates continue on to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The earnings scenarios for Stony Brook University span from $55,215 on the downside to $94,529 on the upside, reflecting the range of outcomes associated with different program clusters. Among the largest programs, Psychology completers earn a median of $58,137 four years after completion, while Business Administration and Management completers earn $72,765. The highest-earning program, Computer Engineering, shows a median of $128,038.

The published cost of attendance at Stony Brook University is $30,539, and aid covers about 38% of that for the average aid recipient. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $12,943, while those in the highest band average $27,716.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $14,773, which is a difference of averages, not what any single family pays. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $18,228 in federal student loans, which is $1,848 below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $207 a month. Graduates earn a median of $81,850 four years after completing a degree, and they earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students. The debt sits below the peer median while earnings land above it.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$7,835
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$6,509
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$14,344

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 / Stony Brook briefing

Stony Brook acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Stony Brook University admits 49.0% of applicants, well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 64,197 applicants, 30,930 admitted, and 3,964 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
49.0%
25th percentile
1350
Median
1410
75th percentile
1470

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Stony Brook briefing

What are the largest majors at Stony Brook?[12]

Stony Brook University's Health Sciences program ranks #3 nationally in its field and #2 in New York, with 446 degrees awarded and a median of $77,075 four years after completion. Psychology is the largest program by degrees awarded at 591, and its completers earn a median of $58,137 with an Azimuth national rank of #41.

Business Administration and Management awarded 464 degrees and shows a median of $72,765, ranking #87 nationally. The Biology program, with 549 degrees awarded, reports a median of $62,574 and an Azimuth national rank of #69.

Stony Brook University has 33 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, with 35 programs reporting earnings data. The largest program, Psychology, awarded 591 degrees and holds a national rank of #41, with graduates earning a median of $58,137 four years after completion.

Biology follows with 549 degrees awarded and a median of $62,574. The highest-earning program, Computer Engineering, reports a median of $128,038.

The bachelor's degree mix at Stony Brook University is anchored in the sciences and health fields. Biological Sciences accounts for 14.1% of degrees awarded, closely followed by Health Professions at 13.9%, while Social Sciences makes up 11.4%.

Across 35 programs with published four-year earnings data, 33 carry an Azimuth national rank. The largest single program is Psychology, at 591 degrees awarded, with Biology next at 549 and Business Administration and Management at 464.

The highest-ranked program is Health Sciences, which Azimuth places #2 in New York within its field. It awards 446 degrees a year and its graduates earn a median of $77,075 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.26x against the national median for its field.

The highest-earning program is a smaller one: Computer Engineering graduates earn $128,038 from 56 degrees awarded. Nursing is both large and well-paid, with 219 degrees awarded and median earnings of $111,898.

The pattern is a public university where strength is spread across several fields rather than concentrated in one. The largest programs are not the highest-earning ones, but several large programs still report solid earnings: Psychology, the largest, earns $58,137, while Applied Mathematics, a smaller program at 399 degrees, reaches $82,200. Across all fields, 40.5% of degrees are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 591 degrees awarded
$58,137
Biology, General 549 degrees awarded
$62,574
Business Administration, Management and Operations 464 degrees awarded
$72,765
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General 446 degrees awarded
$77,075
Applied Mathematics 399 degrees awarded
$82,200
Economics 296 degrees awarded
$74,965

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 / Stony Brook briefing

How does Stony Brook serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places Stony Brook University in the 97th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 75.6%, and Pell recipients complete at 74.1% — below the overall rate by 1.5 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $14,344 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 90th percentile nationally.

Azimuth places the access pillar of Stony Brook University in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 49.0% of applicants, well below the peer median of 78.1%, and enrolls 18,101 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients account for 39.4% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 25.0% arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Stony Brook briefing

What colleges are similar to Stony Brook?[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 Stony Brook.

Admissions peerYeshiva University55.6% admitted
Comparison with Stony Brook
MeasureStony BrookYeshiva University
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,850$93,796+$11,946 vs Stony Brook
Average annual net price$18,784$49,965+$31,181 vs Stony Brook · higher cost
Admission rate49.0%55.6%
Higher-admission alternativeNew York Institute of Technology81.0% admitted
Comparison with Stony Brook
MeasureStony BrookNew York Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,850$81,370-$480 vs Stony Brook
Average annual net price$18,784$22,443+$3,659 vs Stony Brook · higher cost
Admission rate49.0%81.0%
Explore New York Institute of Technology →
Nearby alternativeCUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeNearby option · NY
Comparison with Stony Brook
MeasureStony BrookCUNY Bernard M Baruch College
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,850$82,748+$898 vs Stony Brook
Average annual net price$18,784$3,033-$15,751 vs Stony Brook · lower cost
Admission rate49.0%47.5%
Explore CUNY Bernard M Baruch College →
Higher-earnings alternativeIllinois Institute of Technology$91,312 earnings
Comparison with Stony Brook
MeasureStony BrookIllinois Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,850$91,312+$9,462 vs Stony Brook
Average annual net price$18,784$18,425-$359 vs Stony Brook · lower cost
Admission rate49.0%54.9%
Explore Illinois Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Bernard M Baruch College$3,033 average net price
Comparison with Stony Brook
MeasureStony BrookCUNY Bernard M Baruch College
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,850$82,748+$898 vs Stony Brook
Average annual net price$18,784$3,033-$15,751 vs Stony Brook · lower cost
Admission rate49.0%47.5%
Explore CUNY Bernard M Baruch College →
Similar profileUniversity of ConnecticutMatched across several measures
Comparison with Stony Brook
MeasureStony BrookUniversity of Connecticut
Peer earnings · 4 years$81,850$78,925-$2,925 vs Stony Brook
Average annual net price$18,784$25,097+$6,313 vs Stony Brook · higher cost
Admission rate49.0%52.4%
Explore University of Connecticut →

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