What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$12,171 to $28,475 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $30,345 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $19,288.Aid and debt
$27,208
average debt at graduation
1,556
students got merit aid
about 11% of undergraduates
$7,395
average merit award
Not reported by this school: share receiving need-based grants.
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1360–1480 · 44% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 31–34 · 9% of the class submitted
52% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Important
- Class rank
- Personal essay
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- First-gen status
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Not considered
- Legacy status
- In-state residency
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
Binghamton rates course rigor as Very Important, and your essay as Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. A strong essay can differentiate an otherwise average application.
Binghamton doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2024–25, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Binghamton just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Binghamton essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
51.6% of Binghamton classes have fewer than 20 students.
51.6%
under 20 students
34.4%
20 to 49
14%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Binghamton CDS 2024–25, I-3.
17:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
14.7%
first-years from out of state
43%
live on campus
16%
of men in fraternities
16%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White51.3%
- Asian19%
- Hispanic13.5%
- Black4.8%
- Multiracial4.3%
- Unknown / other3%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Binghamton CDS 2024–25, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
74.6% of Binghamton students graduate in 4 years.
74.6%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2018
82%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2018
89.5%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
75% finish in 6 years, against 82% of all students.
A 7-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Binghamton.
The campus sits in Vestal, across the river from Binghamton in New York's Southern Tier — a former manufacturing region well away from the state's big cities.
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The campus is self-contained around its Brain-shaped ring road, and the Nature Preserve is inside it.
The City
Small town
Binghamton, NY
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Hakeem Jeffries
House Democratic Leader and the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress; the first Binghamton graduate elected to Congress
Bob Swan
Chief executive of Intel, who earned his MBA at Binghamton's School of Management
Paul Reiser
Actor, comedian and writer, co-creator and star of Mad About You
Class of 1977
Tony Kornheiser
Sportswriter and co-host of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption
Class of 1970
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Stepping on the Coat of Arms
Tradition holds that a student who steps on the university seal set into the floor of the Peace Quad will not graduate in four years. Students walk around it.
Spring Fling
The end-of-year outdoor concert and carnival on the Peace Quad, run by the Student Association.
The Nature Preserve
A 190-acre preserve with trails and a pond inside the campus ring road, used as much for study breaks as for biology fieldwork.
Weekend escapes from Binghamton
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Binghamton
Ithaca & the Finger Lakes
1 hourGorges, waterfalls and the Finger Lakes wine trail.
New York City
3 hoursFrequent buses; the single most common home destination for the student body.
The Catskills
1 hour 30 minutesHiking and skiing without leaving the state.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Greater Binghamton (BGM)
20 minutes from campus
For international flights: Newark Liberty International (EWR) — about 3 hours by road.
Pro sports nearby
- Binghamton Rumble Ponies MiLB
- Binghamton Black Bears FPHL
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Binghamton's own region is small, so its pipeline runs on New York City three hours south, plus a genuine local cluster in electronics and health care that traces back to IBM's founding here.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Lockheed Martin
- BAE Systems
- UHS Hospitals
- IBM
- Amphenol
- New York State agencies
New York City, 3 hours
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Binghamton admits 38.6% of applicants and its middle-50% SAT range runs 1360 to 1480, which puts it in genuinely selective territory, and in-state tuition is $10,567 against $30,447 from out of state. That gap is the whole argument: for a New York family this is one of the strongest price-to-selectivity trades available, and for everyone else it is a more ordinary proposition. The caution is money again — Binghamton meets 74.0% of demonstrated need, not all of it, and graduates carry $27,208 in average debt. Academically it behaves like a small college inside a public budget: 51.6% of classes have fewer than 20 students and 74.6% of students finish in four years, 82.0% in six. Only 43% of undergraduates live on campus and Greek life sits at about 16% of men and 16% of women, so a lot of upperclassman life happens off campus in Vestal and Binghamton rather than in residence halls.