Home > Online Colleges > Military-Friendly > New York > Watertown
Key takeaway: 10 accredited institutions within 100 miles of Watertown offer fully online programs and report both credit for military training and a dedicated point of contact for veterans, servicemembers, and their families (IPEDS IC 2024); 7 report all four services the federal survey tracks. The nearest installation recorded by the Census Bureau is Fort Drum, about 19 miles away, and 6 installations sit within 100 miles (1 Army, 1 Coast Guard, 4 Other). None of the 10 schools has a campus within 30 miles; the closest is State University of New York at Oswego in Oswego, NY, about 48 miles away. The highest-ranked by BOC Score is Upstate Medical University. Watertown has a population of about 24,574 and a median household income of $49,692; 25.9 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year estimates).
Military-friendly online colleges near Watertown
Schools based in New York that report credit for military training and a dedicated military contact, ordered by distance from Watertown city center, with BOC Score on each card. The tags on each card are the school’s own IPEDS answers for the four military services. The distance table further down covers the nearest qualifying schools regardless of state line.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
- Graduation rate 30%
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
- Average net price (lower is better) 20%
- Retention rate 15%
- Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Watertown.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Graduation rate
27%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$39,991
Avg net price
$11,923/yr
TuitionIn‑state$6,264
Out‑of‑state$11,700
Source:Accreditor: Middle States Commission on Higher Education · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Nearest qualifying schools within 100 miles (any state)
| School |
Location |
Credit for military training |
Dedicated military contact |
DoD MOU member |
Student veteran org |
BOC Score |
Distance |
| Upstate Medical University |
Syracuse, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
95.6 |
65 mi |
| Syracuse University |
Syracuse, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
74.1 |
66 mi |
| Clarkson University |
Potsdam, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
73.3 |
66 mi |
| SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry |
Syracuse, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
72.9 |
66 mi |
| Le Moyne College |
Syracuse, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
71.6 |
64 mi |
| St. John Fisher University |
Rochester, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
71.2 |
100 mi |
| State University of New York at Cortland |
Cortland, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
67.7 |
96 mi |
| State University of New York at Oswego |
Oswego, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
64.0 |
48 mi |
| SUNY Morrisville |
Morrisville, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
56.5 |
76 mi |
| Mohawk Valley Community College |
Utica, NY |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
55.3 |
71 mi |
New York has 113 military-friendly online colleges by this definition; the New York page lists them all.
Military installations near Watertown
| Installation (as recorded by the Census Bureau) |
Branch (from the name) |
Distance from Watertown |
| Fort Drum |
Army |
19 mi |
| Coast Guard Station Oswego |
Coast Guard |
46 mi |
| Rome Laboratory |
Other |
58 mi |
| Verona Test Annex |
Other |
59 mi |
| Hancock Fld |
Other |
61 mi |
| McRc Syracuse |
Other |
61 mi |
Common post-service careers near Watertown
Median wages for occupations that veterans commonly move into after an online degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), shown for the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro area where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation |
Median annual wage |
Scope |
Cost-of-living adjusted (US=100) |
| Information Security Analysts |
$134,660 |
NY statewide |
$153,546 |
| Logisticians |
$89,740 |
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro |
$102,326 |
| Emergency Management Directors |
$92,570 |
NY statewide |
$105,553 |
| Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers |
$79,540 |
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro |
$90,696 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers |
$117,750 |
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro |
$134,265 |
| Project Management Specialists |
$104,110 |
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro |
$118,712 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators |
$75,320 |
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro |
$85,884 |
| Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers |
$127,180 |
NY statewide |
$145,017 |
BLS publishes wages for metro areas and states, not individual cities; rows marked with the metro name are metro medians, the rest are statewide.
Campuses within 30 miles of Watertown
None of the 10 schools in the table has a campus within 30 miles of Watertown; the nearest is State University of New York at Oswego at 48 miles.
Nearby cities
Benefit eligibility is determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and your service’s education office. Nothing on this page guarantees education benefits, credit transfer, admission, or a particular cost. Confirm every detail with the school’s military or veteran services office before you enroll.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (IC 2024): veteran and military services indicators (VET2 through VET5), distance-education program flag (DISTPGS); BOC Score from College Scorecard and IPEDS outcome data; U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 Military Installations layer (installation names as recorded there); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities; Census ACS 5-year estimates. Directory counts as of the September 2026 refresh.
