private colleges

Despite shrinking endowments, these colleges and universities deliver affordable, high-quality educations. For some students, they're cheaper than state schools.

Gov. David A. Paterson plans to announce a low-cost student loan program to help 45,000 students in New York secure credit and cope with tuition increases at both public and private colleges.

SUNY Binghamton has seen a roughly 50 percent increase in applications so far this fall, largely due to its price tag, which is well below most competitive private colleges.