College Viability Inspection Report

Stony Brook University

New York · Public

Stony Brook University is a public institution in New York, enrolling 18,843 students as of 2024. It graduates 66% of students in four years, returns 90% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $20,992 a year after grants and scholarships. None of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated for Stony Brook University are flagged. This report benchmarks Stony Brook University's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Stony Brook University Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

Stony Brook University — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Stony Brook University. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate66.0%+20.0%83rd
Six-Year Graduation Rate78.0%+5.4%87th
Full-Time Retention Rate90.0%0.0%85th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate77.2%-0.7%89th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap-2.5pp-17.8%12th
Pell Share of Cohort36.4%+12.6%45th

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.02×+4.1%34th
Total FTE Enrollment18,843-0.3%95th
Endowment Value$786.2M+181.4%91st
Net Assets (End of Year)$1.42B+28.4%93rd

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %15.7%-2.2%6th
Student Support Spending %2.8%+16.6%7th
Administrative Spending %5.2%+19.5%4th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio3.56×-16.2%69th
Average Net Price$20,992+27.4%57th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$12,943+9.1%47th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$15,432+9.0%56th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$20,728+7.2%71st
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$23,424+10.4%66th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$27,716+16.8%63rd

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Stony Brook University's retention rate stayed at or above 88% in all 5 reported years — above the 80% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Stony Brook University's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 55% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Stony Brook University's Pell graduation gap stayed at or below 10 percentage points in all 5 eligible years.
Student OutcomesCleared
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Stony Brook University's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Stony Brook University's total enrollment fell from 18,892 to 18,843 students between 2020 and 2024 (-0.3%) — less than the 5% decline that triggers this flag.
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Stony Brook University's endowment is $786.2M and grew +181.4% between 2020 and 2024 — clearing both the $50 million size threshold and the 15% growth threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
High Cost, Low Completion
Stony Brook University costs more than the national median but also graduates students at above-median rates — only one of two conditions is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
Stony Brook University spends $3.56 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered.
Value for MoneyCleared