A CCNY education offers students an impressive return on their investment, according to Forbes.
Reaffirming its reputation as a social mobility powerhouse, Forbes lists The City College of New York among the 25 colleges nationally with the highest payoff.
As part of its Forbes 2026 Top Colleges ranking, the business magazine put together a list of the 25 schools that offer students the best returns on their investment—high earnings potential for a relatively low price. To determine which of Forbes’ top 500 colleges offer the best return on investment (ROI), it looked at each school’s price-to-earnings premium, a calculation by the think tank Third Way that shows the number of years it takes graduates to recoup the net cost (after grants and scholarships are deducted) of their education.
Forbes then looked at the schools’ debt-to-percent-borrowed index, a figure that it created for the top 500 colleges list. It takes into account the percentage of students who take on debt to attend a school, and how much debt those graduates leave with. All of the federal data Forbes used is from the 2023-24 academic year.
Forbes notes that undergraduate students at The City College, which was founded in 1847 as the first free public institution of higher education in the United States, pay well under $10,000. According to Third Way data, graduates regain their net cost after six months.
This is the latest recognition of one of CCNY’s fortes as an engine for upward mobility. In its 2024 Best Value Colleges rankings, The Princeton Review cited CCNY as one of the nation's best colleges for students seeking a great education with excellent career preparation and at a relatively affordable price.
In 2023, Degree Choices, a team of education researchers working to provide valuable financial advice and guide prospective students to find schools and careers that best suit their needs, ranked CCNY #1 of all national universities in the country for economic ROI.
In addition, CCNY has been ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the nation on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers, and society. At City College, more than 16,500 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity, and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together,” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College's mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic, and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Jay Mwamba
917.892.0374
jmwamba@ccny.cuny.edu