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Largest community colleges in New York

Community colleges in New York ranked by total student enrollment, largest first. Bigger institutions generally offer broader program catalogs, more sections per term, more transfer agreements, and deeper student-services staffing — but smaller colleges often win on advisor attention, classroom intimacy, and faculty access.

  1. CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community CollegeNew York, NY18,623
  2. Suffolk County Community CollegeSelden, NY14,218
  3. CUNY LaGuardia Community CollegeLong Island City, NY11,254
  4. Nassau Community CollegeGarden City, NY10,630
  5. CUNY Queensborough Community CollegeBayside, NY8,940
  6. SUNY Westchester Community CollegeValhalla, NY8,078
  7. CUNY Kingsborough Community CollegeBrooklyn, NY7,670
  8. Fashion Institute of TechnologyNew York, NY7,637
  9. Monroe Community CollegeRochester, NY7,623
  10. Hudson Valley Community CollegeTroy, NY6,499
  11. Erie Community CollegeBuffalo, NY6,099
  12. CUNY Bronx Community CollegeBronx, NY5,964
  13. Monroe UniversityBronx, NY5,701
  14. CUNY Hostos Community CollegeBronx, NY4,900
  15. Onondaga Community CollegeSyracuse, NY4,456
  16. Orange County Community CollegeMiddletown, NY3,989
  17. Rockland Community CollegeSuffern, NY3,834
  18. Dutchess Community CollegePoughkeepsie, NY3,824
  19. SUNY College of Technology at AlfredAlfred, NY3,563
  20. Niagara County Community CollegeSanborn, NY3,084
  21. SUNY Broome Community CollegeBinghamton, NY3,055
  22. Culinary Institute of AmericaHyde Park, NY3,011
  23. Finger Lakes Community CollegeCanandaigua, NY2,980
  24. Mohawk Valley Community CollegeUtica, NY2,950
  25. Genesee Community CollegeBatavia, NY1,973
  26. SUNY MorrisvilleMorrisville, NY1,923
  27. SUNY AdirondackQueensbury, NY1,844
  28. Jamestown Community CollegeJamestown, NY1,739
  29. Schenectady County Community CollegeSchenectady, NY1,507
  30. Jefferson Community CollegeWatertown, NY1,499
  31. Tompkins Cortland Community CollegeDryden, NY1,469
  32. Ulster County Community CollegeStone Ridge, NY1,341
  33. Vaughn College of Aeronautics and TechnologyFlushing, NY1,302
  34. Swedish Institute a College of Health SciencesNew York, NY1,227
  35. Cayuga County Community CollegeAuburn, NY1,187
  36. Herkimer County Community CollegeHerkimer, NY1,168
  37. SUNY Corning Community CollegeCorning, NY1,138
  38. St Paul's School of Nursing-QueensRego Park, NY1,056
  39. Fulton-Montgomery Community CollegeJohnstown, NY1,001
  40. Plaza CollegeForest Hills, NY984
  41. Trocaire CollegeBuffalo, NY984
  42. CUNY Stella and Charles Guttman Community CollegeNew York, NY978
  43. Helene Fuld College of NursingNew York, NY914
  44. Columbia-Greene Community CollegeHudson, NY876
  45. Sullivan County Community CollegeLoch Sheldrake, NY836
  46. North Country Community CollegeSaranac Lake, NY819
  47. Bryant & Stratton College-BuffaloBuffalo, NY743
  48. Maria College of AlbanyAlbany, NY656
  49. St Paul's School of Nursing-Staten IslandStaten Island, NY656
  50. AMG School of NursingBrooklyn, NY552

Why size matters

Enrollment scale shapes nearly every aspect of the student experience at a community college. The largest New York community colleges typically offer multiple sections of every general-education course, robust evening and weekend schedules for working students, full-service career centers and transfer advising offices, and deep portfolios of articulation agreements with four-year institutions across New York and beyond. They also tend to operate multiple campuses or learning centers, which can put a community college within commuting distance of more residents.

Smaller community colleges in New York compete on attention. Smaller cohorts mean a single academic advisor sees you across multiple semesters and can write a substantive recommendation when you transfer or apply for a job. Faculty teach more sections of fewer courses, which means the same instructor often guides you through a sequence rather than handing you off term to term. For students who thrive on relationship and continuity, the smaller institutions on this list can be the better choice even when the larger one offers more programs.

Use this list alongside the state's transfer-outcomes guide and the state's cost-and-aid guide. Together they let you triangulate fit on the three dimensions that matter most for community-college choice: program availability, total cost after aid, and how reliably the institution moves students on to the next step.