Jonathan Wallace House · Photo: Mwanner · CC BY-SA 3.0Potsdam is a college town: 34 of every 100 residents are students
No college sits inside Potsdam’s boundary, but Clarkson University’s campus in Potsdam, with 3,323 students on campus, is 1.7 miles from the center of town, and North Country Community College is 51.1 miles away in Saranac Lake. Across New York, 7 of every 100 residents are enrolled in college.
From the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard, June 2026; IPEDS fall 2023 enrollment) and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020–24. Straight-line distances from the center of Potsdam. Colleges are described, not graded.
What stands out about college from Potsdam
Facts about the town and its distance to campus; each college’s own figures follow.
What it’s like to live in Potsdam
How much the colleges shape the town, from the Census Bureau’s survey of residents.
34 of every 100 Potsdam residents are in college (NY: 7).
How students change Potsdam’s other numbers
Read the town’s other grades with this in mind. How TownRatings handles college towns →
Students who live off campus count in the Census poverty figures: 20.6% of Potsdam residents are below the poverty line, 16.3% when college students are left out (that estimate could be off by 6 points either way). 58% of the students themselves are below the line. In college towns, the Jobs & income grade uses the rate without students and leaves unemployment out.
The Cost grade leaves out the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent wherever students are a quarter of residents or more (34% here): it would mostly measure student incomes.
CDC’s estimates follow each place’s age mix, and Potsdam’s median age is 25.9 (New York 39.8), so the adult figures describe a young population.
Crime is counted per resident, and students who live here count as residents. A college with its own police department reports its incidents under that department, not the city.
Colleges within 15 miles of Potsdam
Two private colleges within 8.9 miles, and two public colleges within 9.1 miles.
Degree-granting colleges with 100 or more students on campus (fall 2023 enrollment, minus students who study only online). Admitted: share of applicants offered a place. Net price: the average a year after grants, for students on federal aid. Graduate: within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting.
What would your family pay?
The average a year after grants, for families on federal aid, at the colleges within 15 miles. Pick your family’s income.
Starts at $48–75k, where Potsdam’s median household income ($53,302) falls.
The average a year after grants and scholarships, for first-time, full-time students on federal aid, from the College Scorecard. Your own price depends on your aid package; every college has a net price calculator. For community colleges the net price counts housing and food at full cost, so tuition is shown beside it. “—”: not reported for that income.
Do students finish, and does it pay?
Each dot is a college within 15 miles of Potsdam: across is the share who graduate, up is what they earn ten years after starting.
Graduation: first-time, full-time students within 6 years (4-year colleges) or 3 years (2-year). Earnings: median, 10 years after starting, for students who got federal aid.
Questions about college near Potsdam
Is Potsdam a college town?
Yes. 34 of every 100 Potsdam residents are enrolled in college (Census, 2020–24), against 7 across New York. The nearest campus, Clarkson University, is 1.7 miles away in Potsdam.
What colleges are near Potsdam?
Within 15 miles: Clarkson University (1.7 miles, 3,323 students on campus), SUNY College at Potsdam (2.8 miles, 2,318), St Lawrence University (8.9 miles, 2,089) and SUNY College of Technology at Canton (9.1 miles, 1,668).
Why is Potsdam’s poverty rate so high?
Students who live off campus count in the Census figures. 20.6% of residents are below the poverty line; leaving college students out, 16.3% are (ACS 2020–24, give or take 6 points).
What is the closest community college to Potsdam, and what does it cost?
North Country Community College in Saranac Lake, 51.1 miles away. Tuition and fees are $6,682 a year for New York residents; the federal net price, $11,868, counts housing and food at full cost.
Neighbors talk college
Students, parents, alumni and the neighbors next door.
Colleges: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS (Scorecard 06/10/2026 · IPEDS 2024 · fall 2023 enrollment). “On campus” is fall enrollment minus students who study only online. Distances are straight-line from the center of Potsdam. Residents in college, age, rent and poverty (including poverty without college students, table B14006): U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–24. Colleges are described, not graded; the College town label marks towns where 15% or more of residents are enrolled. How TownRatings describes colleges →