Molloy University cracks Time’s top 100 in new national college rankings

The Rockville Centre school is the only Long Island college in the top 100 of Time magazine’s inaugural “America’s Best Colleges” list

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Molloy University is among the top 100 colleges in the nation, according to a new ranking from Time magazine.

The Rockville Centre school came in at No. 85 on Time’s inaugural “America’s Best Colleges 2026-2027” list, released in partnership with data research firm Statista. Molloy is the only Long Island institution to crack the top 100.

Several New York City schools scored considerably well. Columbia University ranked No. 8 nationally, Cornell University placed No. 13 and New York University came in at No. 88.

Other Long Island schools made the 500-college list, but ranked lower than Molloy. Stony Brook University is No. 134 and St. Joseph’s University, New York — with campuses in Brooklyn and Patchogue — came in at No. 142.

Adelphi University in Garden City ranked No. 250, Farmingdale State College placed No. 289, and SUNY Old Westbury rounded out the Long Island contingent at No. 489.

Nationally, Stanford University topped the list at No. 1, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 2 and Harvey Mudd College in California at No. 3.

Time and Statista said they built the rankings around three “pillars”: student outcomes, learning environment and attractiveness to prospective students.

Student outcomes — covering graduates’ earnings, graduation rates and return on education — carried the most weight, accounting for 75% of a school’s overall score. Learning environment, which factors in student-to-faculty ratio and per-student spending, made up 15%, while attractiveness, essentially how selective a school is versus how many admitted students actually enroll, made up the final 10%.

The data behind the rankings came from federal sources, including the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, according to Time’s published methodology.

Time framed the project as a response to students increasingly weighing the return on investment of a college degree amid rising tuition costs and a competitive job market.

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