The Best HR Programs in New York for 2026

Pace University's BBA in Human Resources Management runs through the AACSB dual-accredited Lubin School of Business in New York City, a 128-credit program built around courses like MGT 262 Human Resources Management, MGT 240 International Management, and MGT 341 Comparative Management Systems, with electives in compensation, employment law, and global workforce management. The program leans on its Manhattan location for internship and job placement access at organizations ranging from Fortune 500 firms to nonprofits, and its own career-outcomes list spans compensation and benefits specialist, HR generalist, labor relations manager, and director of human resources roles.

Pace admits 76% of applicants and graduates 60% of them, at a flat tuition of $51,602 across an enrollment of 13,634, producing a Hakia Score of 82.3, fourth in this ranking. The program's own materials cite a $130,000 nationwide median salary for HR managers and note 93% of Lubin's 2023 bachelor's graduates were employed or continuing education, figures worth verifying against the BLS Occupational Outlook for Human Resources Managers directly. It fits a student targeting NYC corporate HR roles who wants AACSB-accredited business fundamentals over a specialized labor-relations track, at a mid-selectivity admit rate below Cornell's and above Queens College's.

Excelsior University's online Bachelor of Science in Business offers a dedicated Human Resources Management concentration inside its IACBE-accredited, asynchronous 120-credit degree. The concentration runs 15 credits atop a 48-credit major core, and Excelsior accepts up to 113 transfer credits, so most incoming students arrive with a head start. The degree ends in a career-focused industry simulation rather than a thesis, and pricing is fixed at $3,200 per trimester ($800 a month), a flat rate that covers tuition, course materials, the Academic Services Fee, and the Technology Fee.

Excelsior carries the highest Hakia Score of this group at 81, reflecting program design, accreditation, and cost transparency rather than a residential admit or graduation rate; as a fully online program built for a national, working-adult population of 12,941 students, it doesn't report the same campus-based selectivity metrics as its New York classroom peers here. It fits students who want a predictable monthly bill and a start-anywhere schedule, new terms begin every eight weeks, over a traditional four-year, on-campus path.

St. John Fisher University's Human Resources Management program is housed in its School of Business management curriculum, built to get students, in the school's words, "day-one-ready" for entry-level management and professional roles, with a track for students who plan to continue on into graduate business study. The catalog frames the goal plainly: prepare undergraduates for positions in business organizations, not coursework for its own sake.

St. John Fisher posts a Hakia Score of 79.8, the second-highest here, on a 74% graduation rate and a 66% admit rate, a more selective bar than either Le Moyne or SUNY Oswego. Tuition runs a flat $40,090 regardless of residency, since Fisher is private, across an enrollment of 3,693. It fits a student who wants a smaller, more selective private campus in Rochester and is prepared to pay the same rate as an out-of-state student from day one.

Le Moyne College teaches human resources through a Human Resource Management concentration inside its Management & Leadership major at the AACSB-accredited Madden School of Business and Economics. Coursework runs through accounting, business analytics, organizational behavior and development, talent management, employment law, managing multicultural connections, effective supervision, and human resource information systems, framed around the Jesuit value of cura personalis, care for the whole person. Le Moyne's own careers page cites median pay for the field it feeds, from $75,000 for an HR information systems analyst up to $140,030 for a human resources manager, alongside a 6% projected growth rate for HR managers through 2033 that lines up with BLS's Human Resources Managers outlook.

Le Moyne's Hakia Score of 78 sits on a 73% graduation rate and an 83% admit rate, the most accessible admissions of the four programs here. Tuition is a flat $39,090 across 3,091 enrolled students, since Le Moyne charges the same rate regardless of residency. The program reports 95% of graduates employed or in graduate school within six months, making it a fit for students who want Jesuit mission-driven values and better acceptance odds without a steep price jump over St. John Fisher.

SUNY Oswego runs a full, dedicated Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management, which the program notes puts it among "only a handful of colleges nationwide" offering a standalone four-year HR degree rather than a concentration tucked into a broader major. The curriculum aligns to Society for Human Resource Management guidelines and covers staffing, recruitment, organizational behavior, employment law, compensation, union-management relations, and training and development, closing with a capstone HRM course. Students can join an active SHRM student chapter that runs workshops and competes in national case competitions, and the program runs its own on-campus Human Resource Management Center for research and faculty connections.

Oswego's Hakia Score is 77.9 on a 60% graduation rate and an 81% admit rate, the most affordable option here by a wide margin: $7,070 in-state versus $16,980 out-of-state, a gap of $9,910 a year, nearly $39,640 over four years, for New York residents. With 6,715 students enrolled, it fits a budget-focused in-state student willing to weigh a lower graduation rate against the lowest tuition and a SHRM-aligned, career-specific major.

Based in Albany, NY, Excelsior University is a private, nonprofit institution. Its Bachelor's in Human Resources program lands at #9 of the 11 ranked here, earning a 72.1 Hakia Score that weighs graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and outcomes. That sits below the 79.1 group average, in the lower third of the 11 ranked programs. Excelsior University holds an open-admission policy, accepting every qualified applicant. The university enrolls 12,941 students overall. The degree is also offered online, which widens access for working students.

Graduates step into a field with a $99,080 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the main draw here is its an online option.

CUNY York College is a public institution in Jamaica, NY. Its Bachelor's in Human Resources program ranks #10 of the 11 analyzed here with a 68.7 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 79.1 group average, in the lower third of the 11 ranked programs. The program graduates 32% of its students, below the 62% average across the ranked schools. CUNY York College admits 64% of applicants, more selective than the 64% average for the group. That is more open than the 9% rate at Cornell University, the most selective program on this list. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 32% to 95%.

On cost, CUNY York College charges $6,930 a year in-state, roughly 2.1x the $14,880 out-of-state rate. Over four years that is about $27,720 in tuition for residents, against $59,520 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $6,930 at CUNY Queens College to $68,380 at Cornell University. Graduates step into a field with a $99,080 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with genuine selectivity.

Empire State University is a public institution in Saratoga Springs, NY. Its Bachelor's in Human Resources program ranks #11 of the 11 analyzed here with a 68.4 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 79.1 group average, in the lower third of the 11 ranked programs. The program graduates 41% of its students, below the 62% average across the ranked schools. Empire State University holds an open-admission policy, accepting every qualified applicant. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 32% to 95%.

On cost, Empire State University charges $7,070 a year in-state, roughly 2.4x the $16,980 out-of-state rate. Over four years that is about $28,280 in tuition for residents, against $67,920 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $6,930 at CUNY Queens College to $68,380 at Cornell University. The spread makes the program a clearer value for NY residents than for out-of-state students. Graduates step into a field with a $99,080 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with an online option.