Marist University

Private · Moderately Selective · NY

Photo: Amst94 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationNY · Northeast

SettingSuburban

Undergrads5,182

Student:faculty15:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate69.7%

6-yr grad rate79.6%

Drop-out rate13.9%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$48k

Out-of-state tuition$48k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity28.4%

Gender diversity58.1%

International2.1%

Identity—

Overview

Marist sits on a riverside campus in Poughkeepsie, New York, along the Hudson, and has built its reputation on fashion design and merchandising, communications, and computing-heavy programs shaped by a long-running partnership with IBM. A branch campus in Florence, Italy gives Marist one of the highest study-abroad participation rates of any American university its size.

Academics

The IBM partnership has meant Marist's computer science and information technology programs get access to enterprise-grade computing resources and curricula that are unusually current for a school of its size, while its fashion merchandising and design programs and its communications school, which trains students in journalism, media, and public relations, are the other clear draws. Class sizes are generally small.

Campus & student life

The Hudson riverfront setting is central to Marist's identity, with crew and riverside recreation, a walkable core campus, and residence halls including a converted historic estate. Poughkeepsie itself is a modest small city, and many students describe the campus as feeling more self-contained than the surrounding town.

Getting in

Marist reviews applicants holistically, and because its most visible programs, fashion and communications, are creative and portfolio-adjacent fields, demonstrated interest and specific intended major can matter as much as raw academic numbers.

After graduation

Graduates from the fashion and communications programs place into New York City media, fashion, and design employers at a notable rate given the school's size, helped by direct alumni and program pipelines into the city an hour and a half south.

Worth knowing

The Florence campus is not a token study-abroad add-on; it is deeply integrated into Marist's identity, and a large share of students spend a semester there, which shapes the broader campus culture around international experience.

marist.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate56.5%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1190–1340 · ACT 25–31

Test policyoptional

Rec letters1

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 15

Early decisionNov 15

Regular decisionFeb 15

Applying