@cptofthehouse - Yes, it is strange that New York is such a big state with lots of high-performing kids, yet has a state system that does not attract many out-of-state applicants (over 90% of students from its highest ranked college are from NYS).
From my local New York metropolitan area school district’s high school’s class of 2022, of the top ranked students, one went to Berkeley, one went to UCLA, and one went to UVA… but only one went to a SUNY, and it was his safety school. Other states’ public universities are better regarded by many New Yorkers than our own universities!
Apparently, the fact that the SUNYs did not become like the California system is no accident, but a function of early politics. Here is a quote from the New York Times:
Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/education/25suny-t.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Another factor is probably that New York has never been willing to designate a flagship and fund and promote it accordingly. While many people in our area of Long Island state that SUNY Binghamton is the finest SUNY, one also could make a case for SUNY Stony Brook or others, particularly for certain specialties (Stony Brook shines in many STEM fields, Buffalo has a computer science rep, etc.).
Regardless, whenever we look at the Forbes rankings, our family is always astonished at how many states have colleges that are more highly ranked than Binghamton, NY’s top-ranked college. It is so far down the list! Plenty of smart New Yorkers attend it, and it is respected within the state, but it does not have much a reputation beyond the state, and it draws only about 7% non-New Yorkers, mostly internationals. It makes no sense.
It would be exciting if New York put marketing and funding into its top state colleges and developed a world-class reputation for them. New York is a leader in so many ways. This should be yet another.