Binghamton University

Public · Selective · NY

Photo: J. Passepartout (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationNY · Northeast

SettingSuburban

Undergrads14,655

Student:faculty18:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate74.2%

6-yr grad rate81.6%

Drop-out rate10.6%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$11k

Out-of-state tuition$30k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity48.7%

Gender diversity52.1%

International4%

Identity—

Overview

Binghamton University is widely considered one of SUNY's strongest campuses, drawing high-achieving students to upstate New York's Southern Tier with rigorous academics at a public price -- it's regularly grouped among the informal 'Public Ivies.' It combines a serious liberal-arts core with competitive professional programs in management, engineering, and nursing, giving it a broader academic range than its size might suggest.

Academics

Harpur College anchors Binghamton's liberal-arts core with a demanding, research-oriented culture that predates the rest of the university and still shapes its identity. The School of Management is particularly well regarded for accounting, with strong recruiting from major accounting and consulting firms, while the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science and the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences round out the university's most competitive programs. The campus's own on-site nature preserve, one of the largest of any American university campus, supports environmental science coursework and undergraduate field research directly outside the classroom door.

Campus & student life

The Vestal, New York setting is quieter and more suburban than a big city, with the on-campus nature preserve offering an outdoor complement to a studious campus culture that reflects Binghamton's reputation as an academic standout among SUNY schools. Greek life and a dense club scene are both active, and Binghamton fields Division I athletics as the Bearcats in the America East Conference. Downtown Binghamton, a short distance from campus, has been revitalizing around the university's expanding health sciences programs.

Getting in

Binghamton is among the more selective SUNY campuses, with strong grades and rigor expected across the board, and management and engineering drawing especially competitive applicant pools within the university. New York residents benefit from public in-state pricing, but the academic bar for admission stays high regardless of residency, and out-of-state and international applicants make up a meaningful share of each class.

After graduation

Graduates from Harpur, the School of Management, and Watson College place well regionally and nationally, with a particularly strong pipeline from the accounting program into New York City's finance and Big Four accounting firms. The public-university price point combined with genuinely selective outcomes gives Binghamton a strong value reputation among students and families comparing it to private alternatives.

Worth knowing

Binghamton's reputation as a top public university is well established in the Northeast but less recognized nationally, which is worth weighing for students comparing name recognition against value and academic rigor. The on-campus nature preserve is a distinctive academic and recreational asset unusual for a school its size, and the university's health sciences programs have been expanding into a growing downtown Binghamton campus.

binghamton.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate38.6%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1340–1500 · ACT 30–32

Test policyoptional

Rec letters1

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 15

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App, SUNY application, or Coalition (Scoir).

Early Action is non-binding and does not require a commitment to enroll if admitted; Binghamton does not offer a binding Early Decision plan.

Interviews: Interviews are not required; applicants may optionally submit a 60-90 second video introduction through Glimpse.

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗