Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY
Stony Brook University is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York, a suburb of a large city, with 18,101 undergraduates. Mathematics is its signature field: 9% of its bachelor's degrees, about six times its share across the colleges we cover. 76% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $74,502 ten years after starting.
Stony Brook University admitted 30,930 of 64,197 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (48.2%).
- Acceptance rate
- 48.2%
- Fall 2025 class
- In-state tuition
- $10,931
- $32,741 out of state
- Paid after aid
- $18,784
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1350–1470
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2025 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Stony Brook University is known for
Measured by the 4,938 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Mathematics
9.4%
of its bachelor's degrees: about six times the 1.7% share across the colleges we cover.
- Psychology61612.5% of degrees$58,137+15% vs $50,706 nationally
- Biology52210.6% of degrees$62,574+9% vs $57,214 nationally
- Business Administration, Management and Operations49310.0% of degrees$72,765+7% vs $68,257 nationally
- Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences4018.1% of degrees$77,075+26% vs $61,296 nationally
- Applied Mathematics3416.9% of degrees$82,200−10% vs $91,532 nationally
- Economics2956.0% of degrees$74,965−9% vs $82,686 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Suburb of a large city
Stony Brook, NY
Undergraduates
18,101
Fall 2024
Type
Public
Doctoral university, very high research activity
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
19 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
10%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Stony Brook University
Three things Stony Brook University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Stony Brook University files the essay under “very important”.
That is the top of the scale the form offers, and the only other factors this school puts there are Course rigor, GPA and Test scores.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Stony Brook University files test scores under “very important”.
That is the school’s own placement on the grid it publishes every year. 38% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
3,462 admitted from a waitlist of 10,563.
5,191 students accepted a place on that list, and 3,462 were admitted from it, 66.7% of the students who waited. A waitlist offer here is not a near-miss anyone can plan around.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
48.2%
30,930 admitted of 64,197 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
SAT, middle 50%
1350–1470
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
ACT, middle 50%
30–34
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Average GPA of admitted students
3.94
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
38%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
4%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Where do you actually stand at Stony Brook University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Stony Brook University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
In-state tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $10,931 ($32,741 out of state), and the full in-state cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $30,539. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $18,784 a year on average.
In-state tuition and fees
$10,931
2024–25 school year
Out-of-state tuition and fees
$32,741
2024–25 school year
Full cost, in state
$30,539
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$18,784
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $30,539 full cost.
- Under $30k$12,943Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$15,432Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$20,728Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$23,424Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$27,716Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
76%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
90%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$74,502
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$18,228
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
What Stony Brook University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Essayvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Course rigorvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Test scoresvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Recommendationsimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Class rankconsidered
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
The waitlist, as the school reported it
Published counts, including the ones schools rarely lead with.
- Offered a waitlist place
- 10,563
- Accepted the place
- 5,191
- Admitted from the waitlist
- 3,462
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in New York
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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