New York has 193 private and 45 public 4-year colleges that enroll 121,281 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $24,094 for in-state students and $33,605 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in New York charge around $35,166 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, New York provided $191 million in financial aid to 49,948 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $1.5 billion in grants and scholarships to 89,885 students.

New York receives 9% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 46,463 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $243.9 million in pell grant ($5,127 per student on average), and 47,845 students received a total amount of $256.8 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($5,531 per student on average).