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Nine Long Island institutions are among the 500 best colleges in the country, according to the 2025–26 “America’s Top Colleges” ranking released on Tuesday by Forbes.
Forbes says the ranking highlights schools that produce successful, high-earning and influential graduates from all economic backgrounds, while helping students carry less debt after graduation.
Long Island colleges on the list
- Stony Brook — No. 80
The region’s largest public research institution. - Farmingdale State College — No. 269
The state university campus degree offerings are historically strong in technology, business and health sciences. - Adelphi University — No. 288
The private university in Garden City is known for its health, education and liberal arts programs. - Hofstra University — No. 311
The Hempstead private university is widely recognized for its communications, business and law studies. - New York Institute of Technology — No. 351
The midsize private university has campuses in Manhattan and Old Westbury. It provides students with a STEM education that emphasizes career readiness. - Molloy College — No. 382
Rockville Centre’s Catholic college features strong nursing and arts programs. - LIU Post — No. 423
Long island University’s Brookville campus offers a wide range of disciplines. - St. Joseph’s University — No. 433
The 109-year-old private school has campuses in Patchogue and Brooklyn. - SUNY Old Westbury — No. 477
Psychology is arguably the most popular degree program offered at Old Westbury.
A week of rankings
The Forbes report comes the same week that Niche released its own “2026 Best Colleges’ list, which uses a different set of criteria — such as student life, campus culture and academics — to evaluate schools.
Nation’s top 10
At the very top of the Forbes list, familiar names dominate. Here are the 10 highest-ranked colleges in the United States from Forbes’ ranking:
- Princeton
- Stanford
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Yale
- University of California, Berkeley
- Columbia
- University of Pennsylvania
- Harvard
- Rice
- Cornell
Top photos: Facebook
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