College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University at Albany

NYLarge public institution · Overall rank #113 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places the university in its 92nd percentile overall.

Who it’s a good fit for

The University at Albany is a public university in New York whose degree mix leans toward the social sciences, business, and security fields. Mobility is among the highest we track, and access is among the highest we track.

Graduates earn roughly what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds, and the part it cannot explain subtracts.

Pell students finish at a rate slightly above the overall cohort, and the lowest income band pays well below the published cost. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is wide, so what a family pays depends heavily on income.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study. A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are not the largest.

UAlbany at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
69.1%
Six-year completion[2]
61.5%
Four-year earnings[3]
$66,256

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$17,923
Median student debt[4]
$19,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$22,398

UAlbany rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University at Albany is a public university in Albany, New York, enrolling 12,564 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the top tenth of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (92nd percentile).

The university admits 69.1% of applicants, a rate below the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 83.4% return for a second year and 61.5% finish within six years.

Those figures run close to the peer medians of 83.1% and 65.0%. An estimated 31.0% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, and the six-year rate describes the first-time, full-time cohort only.

The shape is a public university where mobility is the strongest (94th percentile) and return the weakest (57th percentile). Access sits near the top at the 92nd percentile, while affordability is in the 72nd percentile.

The pillars are spread apart, with the strongest and weakest separated by more than thirty percentile points.

University at Albany has its clearest Azimuth strength in mobility, while return is the part of its profile that is least strong for readers weighing outcomes. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, mobility sits in the 94th percentile and access in the 92nd percentile.

Affordability is in the 72nd percentile, whereas return is in the 57th percentile. Access and mobility point in the same direction, with return as the counterweight.

43.7% of undergraduates at University at Albany receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks University at Albany #116 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at a rate of 62.8%, which is 1.3 percentage points above the six-year graduation rate for the entering cohort as a whole (61.5%). Azimuth ranks the university #91 for mobility.

Graduates earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

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

UAlbany rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#113

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 94
Access & reach
National percentile: 92
Affordability
National percentile: 72
Return on investment
National percentile: 57

Top-ranked majors

  1. Homeland Security#2
  2. Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management#15
  3. Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics#33

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 / UAlbany briefing

UAlbany cost & financial aid[6][7]

At University at Albany, the published cost of attendance is $28,802, with in-state tuition and fees of $10,866 and room and board of $16,423. Out-of-state tuition and fees are $31,256.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $17,167. Aid reduces the published cost by $11,635 on average.

That net price is above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of $15,634 by $1,533. Azimuth places affordability in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid brings the published price down, though the remains above the comparable-school median.

At University at Albany, the published cost of attendance is $28,802, and aid recipients in lower-income bands face lower average net prices. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $11,112 for the lowest family-income band, $14,062 for the next family-income band, $17,923 for the middle family-income band, $20,037 for the next-highest family-income band, and $24,085 for the highest family-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $12,973. Azimuth places the affordability pillar in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 40% of the published cost, or average savings of $11,635 against the sticker price. For all aid recipients, average net price comes to $17,167.

The peer median net price for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $15,634, with the university $1,533 above that benchmark. Published in-state tuition is $10,866, out-of-state tuition is $31,256, and room and board is $16,423.

Aid offsets a portion of published costs, though the overall price sits above the comparable-institution median. Federal-loan borrowers who complete leave with median federal student loan debt of $19,500.

The peer median debt for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $20,076, making the university $576 below it; 88.0% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing for parent borrowers is $22,398.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$17,923

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at UAlbany

Borrowing is widespread at University at Albany, though typical federal debt at completion is below the peer benchmark. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $19,500.

Federal loans are used by 88.0% of federal aid recipients. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median federal debt is $20,076, making Albany’s median $576 below it.

For the separate population of Parent PLUS borrowers, median borrowing is $22,398.

The median for federally aided graduates of University at Albany who are working and not enrolled four years after completion is $66,256. That earnings level falls at the 69th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

It is $646 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

That outcome sits at the 57th percentile. Estimated from the program mix, the earnings scenarios span $53,159 on the downside and $83,389 on the upside; the typical outcome is $66,256.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $19,500 in federal loans, $576 below the peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $22,398. For borrowers with the median federal debt, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$19,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$22,398

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$222/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$285/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 / UAlbany briefing

UAlbany career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Mobility is the strongest pillar at University at Albany, while return data place graduates effectively at the expected level and below comparable peers. Graduates earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 57th 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 $1,296.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $701. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $66,256 four years after completion, in the 69th percentile.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $65,610; the university is $646 above it.

At University at Albany, the central earnings reading is $66,256 four years after completion among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth places this measure in the 69th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on 4,098 completers.

Graduates earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings scenarios from the program mix place typical earnings at the institutional median, with a downside scenario of $53,159 and an upside scenario of $83,389.

These scenarios are not observed groups. An estimated 32.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The modeled midpoint matches the institutional median, and earnings sit effectively at the expected level.

The return picture sits close to the peer benchmark, though the school-level measures do not all point in the same direction. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled at University at Albany have median earnings of $66,256 four years after completion, in the 69th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $65,610, leaving Albany $646 above that mark. Graduates earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, are in the 57th percentile. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Downside and upside earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix are $53,159 and $83,389. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $1,296.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $701. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,030.

The peer comparison and model estimate place overall earnings near their reference points. Accounting sets the highest earnings figure among the named programs, with 117 degrees awarded and median earnings of $98,010 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #34 nationally in its field, and its median is 1.29x the national median for that field. Homeland Security awarded 191 degrees and had median earnings of $69,365 four years after completion; Azimuth ranks it #2 nationally in its field.

Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management awarded 36 degrees, with $95,885 in median earnings four years after completion and an Azimuth national rank of #15 in its field. These program figures range from a highly ranked field near its national median to programs with higher earnings and stronger national benchmarks.

Earnings spread widely across modeled program-mix scenarios, so the institution-wide median does not describe every field. The downside earnings scenario is $53,159, and the upside scenario is $83,389.

Both are earnings scenarios rather than observed groups. At the program level, median earnings four years after completion are $98,010 in Accounting, $95,885 in Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, and $80,285 in Computer and Information Sciences. Those field results show why the modeled range is broad.

Borrowers who complete at University at Albany carry less federal student loan debt than the comparable-institution midpoint, even as earnings beyond expectations remain close to neutral. Median federal student loan debt is $19,500 for borrowers who completed, excluding Parent PLUS borrowing.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $20,076, placing the university below it by $576. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $222 a month if repaid over ten years.

Completers four years after completion earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Lower borrower debt and earnings effectively at the expected level point to a return picture with a modest debt edge rather than an earnings edge.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$1,296
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$701
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$595

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 / UAlbany briefing

UAlbany acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

With an admission rate of 69.1%, University at Albany admitted that share of the reported applicant pool. This sits below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

The figure summarizes a prior applicant pool rather than an individual admission outcome.

Admissions
Admission rate
69.1%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / UAlbany briefing

What are the largest majors at UAlbany?[12]

At University at Albany, program earnings range from higher-earning business and technology fields to a larger, more moderate-earning program. Accounting had median earnings of $98,010 four years after completion across 117 degrees awarded.

Azimuth ranks it #34 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management recorded $95,885 across 36 degrees awarded, and Azimuth ranks it #15 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field.

Psychology posted $55,004 across 306 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #87 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field. The contrast makes field choice central to the earnings picture.

University at Albany has 21 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, with earnings data available for 24 fields. The strongest national rank belongs to Homeland Security, which Azimuth ranks #2 in its field among nonprofit four-year institutions and #1 in New York.

It awarded 191 degrees and its completers earned a median of $69,365 four years after completion. The largest program is Psychology, with 306 degrees awarded and median earnings of $55,004.

Business Administration and Management follows closely at 304 degrees, with higher earnings of $76,633 and a state rank of #3 in New York. The highest earnings come from Accounting, at $98,010, from 117 degrees awarded.

Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management is a much smaller program at 36 degrees but posts $95,885 and ranks #15 nationally.

The program mix at University at Albany is spread across several fields, with Social Sciences accounting for 17.2% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Business at 12.8% and Security & Protective Services at 11.1%. The university has 21 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 24 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Psychology, at 306 degrees awarded, with Business Administration and Management close behind at 304 and Biology at 249. The strongest programs by national rank are concentrated in a few fields.

Homeland Security is the highest-ranked program, with 191 degrees awarded and median earnings of $69,365 four years after completion, and Azimuth ranks it #1 in New York within its field. Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management ranks #15 nationally within its field and #4 in New York, with 36 degrees awarded and median earnings of $95,885.

Accounting ranks #34 nationally within its field with 117 degrees awarded and median earnings of $98,010 four years after completion. The pattern is one of strength in a few specialized programs rather than across the largest departments.

The largest programs by degrees awarded—Psychology, Business Administration and Management, and Biology—sit at or near the national median for their fields, while the highest-ranked programs are smaller and more concentrated. Four-year earnings for fields where graduate study is common may understate later trajectories.

22.3% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, a share that does not dominate the program mix.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 306 degrees awarded
$55,004
Business Administration, Management and Operations 304 degrees awarded
$76,633
Biology, General 249 degrees awarded
$58,703
Economics 202 degrees awarded
$63,331
Homeland Security 191 degrees awarded
$69,365
Human Biology 184 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report

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 / UAlbany briefing

How does UAlbany serve students from different backgrounds?

Mobility is the university's strongest measured pillar, centered on completion and modeled earnings. Within the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 61.5%, and Pell recipients complete within six years at 62.8%, above the overall rate by 1.3 percentage points.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 94th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $595 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. The pillar's high placement sits alongside earnings effectively at the model's expected level.

At University at Albany, access extends beyond initial admission to a sizable undergraduate body and transfer entry. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 69.1% of applicants; 43.7% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 31.0%. Undergraduate enrollment is 12,564 undergraduates. These figures describe several routes into a large public university.

06 / UAlbany briefing

What colleges are similar to UAlbany?[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 UAlbany.

Admissions peerHartwick College69.6% admitted
Comparison with UAlbany
MeasureUAlbanyHartwick College
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,256$60,324-$5,932 vs UAlbany
Average annual net price$17,167$31,320+$14,153 vs UAlbany · higher cost
Admission rate69.1%69.6%
Higher-admission alternativeFranklin Pierce University93.5% admitted
Comparison with UAlbany
MeasureUAlbanyFranklin Pierce University
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,256$66,687+$431 vs UAlbany
Average annual net price$17,167$27,154+$9,987 vs UAlbany · higher cost
Admission rate69.1%93.5%
Nearby alternativeSkidmore CollegeNearby option · NY
Comparison with UAlbany
MeasureUAlbanySkidmore College
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,256$61,281-$4,975 vs UAlbany
Average annual net price$17,167$32,297+$15,130 vs UAlbany · higher cost
Admission rate69.1%21.1%
Explore Skidmore College →
Higher-earnings alternativeNew Jersey Institute of Technology$91,874 earnings
Comparison with UAlbany
MeasureUAlbanyNew Jersey Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,256$91,874+$25,618 vs UAlbany
Average annual net price$17,167$16,504-$663 vs UAlbany · lower cost
Admission rate69.1%65.1%
Explore New Jersey Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativeBay Path University$14,271 average net price
Comparison with UAlbany
MeasureUAlbanyBay Path University
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,256$62,912-$3,344 vs UAlbany
Average annual net price$17,167$14,271-$2,896 vs UAlbany · lower cost
Admission rate69.1%85.2%
Explore Bay Path University →
Similar profileCUNY City CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with UAlbany
MeasureUAlbanyCUNY City College
Peer earnings · 4 years$66,256$67,740+$1,484 vs UAlbany
Average annual net price$17,167$3,776-$13,391 vs UAlbany · lower cost
Admission rate69.1%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