| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Private, nonprofit university; classes on campus, hybrid (accelerated nursing) and online |
| Locations | Main campus in Utica and an accelerated nursing site in Latham, near Albany; both in New York. The two Florida sites have closed |
| Credentials | Bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees and graduate certificates |
| Typical length | Four-year bachelor’s degrees; the accelerated BSN takes 16 months |
| Enrollment | 2,132 undergraduates and 1,133 graduate students (2025) |
| Accreditation | Middle States Commission on Higher Education (decision on reaffirmation expected March 2027); CCNE for nursing; ACCE for construction management |
| Federal aid | Yes; Yellow Ribbon school |
| 2026-27 tuition | $29,022 full-time undergraduate plus a $1,250 comprehensive fee |
| Founded | 1946 by Syracuse University; independent since 1995; Utica University since 2022 |
| Facts checked | 8 October 2026 |
A private university now teaching only in New York
Utica University is a private, nonprofit university in Utica, New York. Syracuse University founded it in 1946, it became independent in 1995, and it was called Utica College until the New York Board of Regents approved the new name in February 2022. It had 2,132 undergraduates and 1,133 graduate students in 2025. For career training, the programs that matter most here are nursing (a four-year BSN, a 16-month accelerated BSN taught in Utica and Latham, and an online RN-to-BSN), construction management and cybersecurity. The university is smaller than it was: in July 2025 it said enrollment was down nearly 30% from its 2018 peak, announced a $5 million a year cut in faculty costs and said it would close its two Florida teaching sites. Since 31 August 2026 it operates only in New York.
Nursing, construction management and cybersecurity at Utica
| Program | Credential | Length and start | Delivery and where | Prepares for / accreditation | Sample cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing (traditional) | B.S. | 4 years | Utica campus | NCLEX-RN; CCNE | $29,022 tuition (2026-27) |
| Accelerated and Advanced Standing BSN | B.S. (prior degree or college credits) | 16 months, 4 semesters; January, May and August starts | Hybrid; Utica campus and Latham | NCLEX-RN; CCNE | $957 per credit; about $63,681 in all (no year shown) |
| RN to B.S. in Nursing | B.S. (licensed RNs) | 61 credits | Online; cannot enroll out-of-state students | No licensing exam; CCNE | $295 per credit (2026-27) |
| Construction Management | B.S. | 120 credits, including a 480-hour internship | Utica campus | ACCE | $29,022 tuition (2026-27) |
| Cybersecurity | B.S.; M.S. | 120 credits; 30 credits | Utica campus and online; online cannot enroll out-of-state students | – | $475 per credit online for the B.S. (2026-27) |
Utica’s other undergraduate degrees, such as criminal justice, accounting, finance, business management and communication and media, are general four-year degrees rather than job-specific training. Its physical and occupational therapy programs are graduate degrees (the DPT, M.S. and OTD), and there is no physical therapist assistant program. Registered nurses with a bachelor’s can go on to online master’s degrees in family nurse practice, nursing education or nursing leadership. Utica’s nursing outcomes page reported results for an accelerated BSN site in Syracuse (Liverpool) through 2024, but no current ABSN page lists it (only the university’s program listing still names Syracuse), so we do not list it as a campus.
What the main programs cover
Accelerated and Advanced Standing BSN
The Accelerated BSN is for students who already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field; the Advanced Standing version takes students with earlier college credits but no nursing degree. Both compress the nursing major into four semesters. Lectures are online, while skills labs run at the Utica campus or the Latham site and clinical rotations take place in local health facilities, so students are on site three to four days a week. The degree-requirement courses can be finished online before nursing starts. Applicants pay a non-refundable deposit and pay for a background check and drug screen.
RN to BSN online
The RN to BSN is built for nurses who are already working: all 61 credits are taken online, and students already hold an RN licence when they start. The university’s nursing outcomes page reports a 70.2% completion rate for students from 2018 to 2020 and 96.5% employment in 2023, without defining the cohorts. Under Utica’s provisional SARA status, students who live outside New York cannot enroll at present.
Construction Management
Construction Management is a four-year, 120-credit bachelor’s taught from Thurston Hall on the main campus. Its centrepiece is a 480-hour guided internship taken in the summer, and the program page names employers that have hosted interns. ACCE accredits the degree. It prepares students for construction project management work, not for a trade licence such as electrician or plumber. The sources we read do not give course names, so ask for the current degree plan before you enroll.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is offered at the bachelor’s and master’s levels: the 120-credit B.S., a B.B.A. in Cybersecurity Operations Management and a 30-credit M.S. The B.S. is taught both on the Utica campus and online. The university’s accreditation page lists a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense designation from the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security for the academic years 2019-2024 only, and we found no renewal. Students who want the online version must live in New York for now, because of the SARA limit.
Tuition and paying for it
| Utica campus, full-time undergraduate | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition (12–19 credits) | $27,380 | $29,022 |
| Comprehensive fee | $1,100 | $1,250 |
| Room and board (average) | $16,454 | $16,454 |
| Part-time tuition, per credit | $912 | $967 |
| All Access book fee, per credit | $28 | $28 |
Utica is private, so one price applies to students from every state. For 2025-26 the university put the full cost of attendance at $47,737 before aid and estimated an average cost after aid of $26,477. Its estimated 2025-26 averages were $4,000 in scholarships, $6,095 in federal grants and work-study and $5,665 in New York State aid. Niche shows a federal net price of $20,295 a year.
Accelerated BSN (Utica and Latham): $957 per credit, or $59,334 in tuition, plus program fees of $340 a semester ($1,360) and about $2,987 for books, for an estimated $63,681. The price page shows no academic year. A $500 non-refundable deposit and a background check and drug screen ($213 at Utica, $180 at Latham) are extra.
Online, 2026-27: RN to BSN $295 per credit (about $18,000 for 61 credits); B.S. Cybersecurity $475; master’s nursing degrees $850; plus $75 per online course and an opt-out book fee of $40 per credit.
Utica takes federal aid and is a Yellow Ribbon school with full-time veterans support staff. It also advertises a 10% tuition discount for some online students and military spouses, which does not apply when benefits already cover full tuition.
Admissions, starts and the online limit
Niche, using federal data, puts Utica’s acceptance rate at 93%. The Accelerated BSN admits students who already hold a bachelor’s degree, and the Advanced Standing BSN students with earlier non-nursing college credits. Both start three times a year, in January, May and August, and students are on site three to four days a week. The RN to BSN requires a current RN licence.
For online study, Utica’s accreditation page says it “has provisional approval to participate in SARA and cannot enroll out-of-state students in online programs.” That covers every online program, including the RN to BSN, cybersecurity and the master’s nursing degrees.
Accreditation, financial review and results
Utica is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which last reaffirmed its accreditation in 2018. The next review is under way: the self-study is dated August 2026, an evaluation team visits in November 2026 and a Commission decision is expected in March 2027. In March 2026 MSCHE asked Utica for a supplemental report on financial health indicators; in June 2026 it acknowledged the report and directed that the self-study give further evidence of financial resources and stability. MSCHE lists Utica’s status as “Accreditation Reaffirmed”; none of these requests is a probation, warning or show-cause action. CCNE accredits the baccalaureate and master’s nursing programs through 31 December 2035, and ACCE accredits Construction Management.
| Measure | Result | Cohort and source |
|---|---|---|
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass, traditional BSN | 96% | 2025; Utica nursing program page |
| NCLEX-RN first-time pass, accelerated BSN | 90.34% | 2024 graduates, all sites; Utica ABSN page |
| Six-year graduation rate | 53.3% (274 of 514) | First-time, full-time students who started in fall 2019; Student Right to Know page |
| First-year retention | 67.2% | Fall 2025 entering class; Student Right to Know page |
| Employed full time six months after graduating | 81.25% | 2025 graduates; response rate not stated; Student Right to Know page |
| Median debt of completers | $22,500 | Student Right to Know page |
We read the Student Right to Know figures in October 2026; check the page for later updates before relying on them. The nursing outcomes page also reports pass rates by site, but some of its 2024 figures cover incomplete cycles, so we do not repeat them.
Before you enroll
- Online programs are closed to students outside New York for now. Utica’s SARA approval is provisional, and the university says it cannot enroll out-of-state students in online programs. Some older program pages still say otherwise.
- Its accreditor has asked about finances. MSCHE asked for a report on financial health in 2026 and wants more evidence of financial stability in the review now under way, with a decision due in March 2027. Utica’s own July 2025 plan cut faculty costs and focused on the 20 programs that enroll 95% of students.
- Check that your program is still enrolling. Utica approved sunsetting 13 majors in 2023, and a 2025 review proposed further deletions, with a board decision due by May 2026; we could not retrieve the final list. Some programs from the 2023 list are still priced for 2026-27.
- Accelerated BSN clinicals depend on local placements. The school arranges them but says they can’t be guaranteed, and the program needs three to four days a week on site at Utica or Latham.
- Construction Management’s “100% job placement” claim covers the past 10 years but comes with no cohort size or definition.
Closures and cuts since 2022
- February 2022: the New York Board of Regents approved the university’s current name.
- 2023: the board approved sunsetting 13 low-enrollment majors, including the online criminal justice B.S. and the health care management B.S.
- By 31 May 2024: the Miramar, Florida, accelerated nursing site closed.
- July 2025: a restructuring plan cut $5 million a year from faculty costs and announced the closure of both Florida teaching sites.
- 31 August 2025: the downtown business site at 181 Genesee Street, Utica, closed.
- 31 August 2026: the St. Petersburg, Florida, site closed after a teach-out (its last accelerated nursing class started in fall 2024), and Utica consolidated its operations in New York.
Housing and career help
Students at the Utica campus can live in university housing; average room and board is $16,454 for 2026-27. The career preparation we could confirm is built into the main programs: accelerated BSN students are placed for clinical rotations in local health facilities, and Construction Management students complete a 480-hour summer internship with named employers. The results table above gives the university’s six-month employment figure for 2025 graduates.
What students say
On Niche, Utica University averages 3.53 out of 5 from 823 reviews, with an overall grade of C+ (checked 8 October 2026). Reviewers most often praise small classes and faculty who invest in students, a tight-knit community, and the cybersecurity program and support for athletes. Complaints centre on weak advising, mistakes by the financial aid, registrar and billing offices, outdated first-year dorms and the food, and opinions of the nursing program’s culture are mixed. The reviews cover the whole university, and we could not see their dates, so we cannot tell whether many were invited by the school or posted in bursts.
Sources
Checked 8 October 2026: Utica accreditations and SARA status · MSCHE institution page · CCNE accredited programs, New York · Utica campus tuition 2026-27 · Accelerated BSN tuition · Student Right to Know · Utica University catalog · Niche reviews
Programs & Courses
Nursing
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (four-year, Utica campus)
- Accelerated B.S. in Nursing (ABSN, 16 months, Utica campus and Latham)
- Advanced Standing B.S. in Nursing (Utica campus and Latham)
- RN to B.S. in Nursing (online)
- M.S. Family Nurse Practitioner and FNP Certificate (online)
- M.S. Nursing Education and certificate (online)
- M.S. Nursing Leadership and certificate (online)
Construction and Technology
- Construction Management (B.S.)
- Cybersecurity (B.S., campus and online)
- Cybersecurity Operations Management (B.B.A.)
- Cybersecurity (M.S.)
Other Bachelor's Degrees (Utica Campus)
- Criminal Justice (B.S.)
- Accounting (B.S.)
- Business Management (B.S.)
- Finance (B.S.)
- Communication and Media (B.A./B.S.)
Graduate Health Programs
- Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
- Occupational Therapy (M.S. and OTD)
- Health Care Administration (MHA, online)
Campus Locations
Utica, NY 1600 Burrstone Road, Utica, NY 13502
Albany (Latham), NY 23 British American Boulevard, Latham, NY 12110