World-Class Reputation

Hayes Hall

Hayes Hall on the South Campus, where UB architecture students dream up tomorrow's models for building and living.

UB is the premier public research university in the northeastern United States and the largest and most comprehensive campus in the 64-campus SUNY system. We’re an established leader and are consistently recognized by top university guides and publications for our excellent value and high-quality academics.

On this page:

Rankings: The facts speak for us

Bronze buffalo at CFA

The bronze buffalo in front of the Center for the Arts, North Campus

  • The first SUNY institution invited to join the prestigious Association of American Universities, an association of elite research universities in the U.S. and Canada.
  • Among the top 40 public universities in the nation — U.S. News & World Report
  • No. 1 public school in New York State — Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking
  • One of the “Best Values” in higher education — Kiplinger’s
  • For more than 15 years, among the top 25 institutions in the United States hosting international students — Institute of International Education (IIE)
  • Top-ranked school for international students — IIE Open Doors

Reputation: What others say about UB

High four-year graduation rate, low average student debt at graduation, abundant financial aid, a low sticker price and overall great value.
—Kiplinger’s

Stellar academics and for all it is doing to make college affordable, especially for applicants with need in these tough economic times.
—The Princeton Review “Best Value Colleges”

We also offer some of the country’s strongest graduate and professional degree programs, recognized as among the top-tier schools for quality of programs and research, according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools”:

  • English PhD program
  • Graduate School of Education
  • Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
  • Law School
  • Master's program in rehabilitation counseling
  • PharmD program
  • School of Engineering and Applied Sciences 
  • School of Management’s MBA program 
  • School of Nursing
  • School of Public Health and Health Professions
  • School of Social Work

Results: We make a difference in everything we do

UB student in lab

Medical student Isidore Dinga Madou conducts research in the Physiology and Biophysics Lab in the Biomedical Research Building.

Talented Students

Our students are eager to learn and get involved on campus, and they go on to do amazing things. Whether they are conducting climate research in Greenland, performing street theater in Prague or teaching English to refugees, UB students are engaged citizens whose collaborative learning experiences resonate far beyond the classroom. They consistently win more prestigious scholarships and fellowships, such as the Truman, Fulbright, Marshall and Goldwater, than students at any other SUNY institution.

Paras Prasad

Paras Prasad, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry

World-Renowned Faculty

Our faculty have been recognized as the best teachers and top innovators in the world, winning such prestigious awards as the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Technology, the MacArthur Foundation “genius award” and the Guggenheim Fellowship, among others.

Li Yanhong, UB Alumnus

Li Yanhong (Robin Li), co-founder of Chinese search engine Baidu.com

Accomplished Alumni

More than 260,000 UB alumni are making a difference in every state and 148 countries around the world. Among our celebrated graduates are:

  • Industrialist and former Indonesian minister of state-owned enterprises — Tanri Abeng
  • Former executive director of World Education Services — Mariam Assefa
  • Former astronaut and NASA mission specialist — Ellen Shulman Baker
  • Award-winning journalist for CNN — Wolf Blitzer
  • Rising Hollywood actor — Winston Duke
  • Executive producer and host of NPR’s “Fresh Air” — Terry Gross
  • Co-founder of Baidu.com, the largest Chinese-language search engine — Li Yanhong (Robin Li)
  • Superstar NFL linebacker — Khalil Mack
  • Founder of New York Fashion Week — Fern Mallis
  • President of Somalia — Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed
  • Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center — Christopher Scolese
  • Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post — Tom Toles
  • President and CEO of Girls, Inc. — Judy Vredenburgh
  • Former Chinese minister of education and current president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering — Zhou Ji