Private for-profit · Community college
Plaza College
Forest Hills, New York · Large city
- 5%
- Transfer rate
- $19,860
- Avg net price
- 68%
- Grad / completion
- $31,519
- Median earnings
Plaza College is a private for-profit associate-granting institution in Forest Hills, New York (large city setting), enrolling 984 undergraduates.
About Forest Hills, New York
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. The development of adjacent Forest Park, a park on the southern end of Forest Hills, began in 1895. Starting in 1896, the landscape architecture firm of Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot was contracted to provide a plan for the park. Austin Street is a busy, modern street with shops, cafes, restaurants, and other stores that function as the center of Forest Hills. (Wikipedia)
- Setting
- Large city
- Highest degree offered
- Bachelor's
- Nearest big city
- 9 miles to New York, NY
- To the ocean
- 5 miles
- Nearest airport
- 5 miles to LaGuardia (LGA) · major hub
How Plaza College compares
More selective than 94% · #6 most selective of 57 in New York
Higher than 58% · #98 of 185 in New York
Higher than 37% · #117 of 148 in New York
Cheaper than 33% · #111 cheapest of 175 in New York
Lower than 6%
Lower than 7%
Larger than 72%
Percentiles compare Plaza College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in New York.
Student body
Undergraduate vs. graduate
- Undergraduate98499%
- Graduate131%
Undergraduates by gender
- Women82183%
- Men16317%
Undergraduates by race / ethnicity
- White13%
- Black32%
- Hispanic33%
- Asian12%
- Other or multiracial10.0%
Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.
By the numbers
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 984
- Graduate enrollment
- 13
- Student–faculty ratio
- 28 : 1
- Pell Grant recipients
- 85%
- First-generation students
- 48%
- Students over 25
- 56%
- Median family income
- $14,305
- Avg faculty salary (academic year)
- $61,650
Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.
Cost
- In-state tuition
- $15,450
- Room & board
- —
- Books & supplies
- $1,700
- Total cost of attendance
- $26,525
- Average net price
- $19,860
Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.
Admissions
- Admission rate
- 30.0%
- Test scores
- Not considered
- SAT range (25th–75th %)
- —
- SAT average
- —
- SAT reading
- —
- SAT math
- —
- ACT composite
- —
Outcomes
- Graduated
- 68%
- First-year retention
- —
- Transferred to another college
- 5%
- Median earnings, 6 years after entry
- $32,282
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry
- $31,519
- Median debt at graduation
- $20,751
- Students with federal loans
- 80%
- Paying down their loans (1 year in)
- 26%
Campus life & athletics
- On-campus housing
- No
- Application fee
- $100
Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.
Campus safety
- Safety grade
- A
- Reported offenses per 1,000 students
- 0.0 / year
- Violent offenses (2022–2024)
- 0
- Property offenses (2022–2024)
- 0
On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (1,002 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.
What you'll actually pay, by family income
Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.
College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.
Does the school pay you to attend?
Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.
Modest institutional aid: 10% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $2,700. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.
Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 181 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.
Is it worth it?
A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.
- Median earnings (10 years)
- $31,519
- Typical debt at graduation
- $20,751
- Debt vs. one year's pay
- 66%
- Out-earn a HS grad
- 25%
Typical debt would take roughly 6.6 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.
The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.
Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.
The pay gap here
Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.
Men out-earn women by $5,589 (18%) a decade out.
Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.
Campus climate
- Summer high
- 86°F
- Winter low
- 29°F
- Annual rain
- 45.3″
- Annual snow
- 29.8″
Average temperature
HighLowAverage precipitation (inches)
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, New York Laguardia AP, NY US station (5.1 mi from campus).
What Plaza College graduates study — and earn
Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.
Colleges similar to Plaza College
Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Plaza College side by side →
Swedish Institute a College of Health Sciences
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- Transfer
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Hunter Business School
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Intellitec College-Grand Junction
Grand Junction, Colorado · Small city · 194 mi to Denver
- Students
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- Tuition
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- Transfer
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Capri Cosmetology Learning Centers
Nanuet, New York · Large suburb · 27 mi to New York
- Students
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- Tuition
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Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute-New York
New York, New York · Large city · 1 mi to New York
- Students
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- Tuition
- —
- Transfer
- 0%
- Earnings
- $28k
Colleges near Plaza College
Austin Medical Assistant Training
Forest Hills, NY · Private for-profit · Certificate · 328 students
Yeshivath Shaar Hatorah
Kew Gardens, NY · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 76 students
Berkowits School of Electrolysis
Forest Hills, NY · Private for-profit · Certificate · 102 students
Rabbinical Seminary of America
Flushing, NY · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 397 students
CUNY Queens College
Queens, NY · Public · Bachelor's · 12,550 students
Metropolitan Learning Institute
Rego Park, NY · Private nonprofit · Certificate · 357 students
St Paul's School of Nursing-Queens
Rego Park, NY · Private for-profit · Associate · 1,056 students
St. John's University-New York
Queens, NY · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 9,477 students
Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.