College of Staten Island CUNY

Public · Moderately Selective · NY

Photo: CUNY Academic Commons (CC BY 2.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationNY · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads9,657

Student:faculty17:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate27.5%

6-yr grad rate33.9%

Drop-out rate24.3%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$7k

Out-of-state tuition$15k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity59.9%

Gender diversity51.3%

International2.1%

Identity—

Overview

The College of Staten Island is CUNY's campus on Staten Island, occupying the largest single campus footprint in New York City's public university system — a green, suburban-feeling site that looks unlike almost anywhere else in CUNY. It offers a broad liberal arts and sciences curriculum alongside professional programs, formed originally from the merger of Staten Island Community College and Richmond College, and serves a mostly commuter population.

Academics

Nursing, education, and computer science are recognized strengths alongside a wide general liberal-arts and sciences base, and the campus is home to the CUNY High Performance Computing Center, giving computer science and data-oriented students access to research computing infrastructure unusual for a primarily undergraduate-serving CUNY campus. The Verrazzano School honors program offers a smaller, more selective track with additional research and seminar opportunities for high-achieving students.

Campus & student life

The campus's unusually large, green, suburban-feeling footprint sets it apart from most CUNY campuses, which tend to be compact and urban, giving CSI more of a traditional-campus feel despite being firmly part of the city university system. Most students commute rather than live on campus, and the surrounding Staten Island borough has a distinctly different, more suburban character than Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Getting in

Admission follows CUNY's accessible, credentials-based process, with the college serving as a broadly available option within the CUNY system for Staten Island and the wider city; the Verrazzano honors program has its own more selective, separate application, generally requiring stronger academic credentials and a personal statement, distinct from the college's otherwise straightforward, transcript-driven general admission.

After graduation

Nursing and education graduates find strong placement across New York City's hospitals and public schools, and computer science graduates benefit from the campus's research-computing resources when pursuing further study or technical roles. Many CSI graduates stay within the New York City region, giving the college a strong, if quietly regional, alumni presence across the city's public institutions.

Worth knowing

CUNY's signature affordability applies here, and the spacious, campus-style setting is a notable contrast to the more built-up, compact feel of CUNY's Manhattan and Brooklyn campuses — a real consideration for students who want a traditional-feeling campus without leaving the city university system.

csi.cuny.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate92.3%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 890–1250

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying