ALBANY — New York’s public and private colleges received an “F” grade for affordability in a study that also failed 42 other states, according to a national report card by an independent group.

New York failed the affordability test in 2004 as well. The State University of New York contested the grade then and now, saying the group failed to accurately account for the state’s Tuition Assistance Program. That aid, based on need, goes to hundreds of thousands of public and private college students. But the center disagreed and hasn’t changed the grade.

Public college tuition and fees in New York amount to about $5,200 a year.

Nationally, the report found American higher education, which has long led the world, has fallen behind other nations.

Affordability includes tuition and fees along with the amount of financial aid and debt students must take on to attend college, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The nonprofit, nonpartisan center is supported by foundations including the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Ford Foundation.

New York’s higher education system received an “A-minus” for the preparation of high school students going to college, a “B-plus” for the rate at which students complete college and a “B-plus” for benefits that higher education provided to the state, including higher salaries and higher voting rates. New York’s colleges and universities also scored a “B-minus” for the share of college age students attending higher education institutions, according to the report released today.

Compared to the 2004 study, the most recent previous report, New York has dropped a half grade in each preparation, completion and benefits while improving a half grade in participation.

The report card includes community colleges, colleges in the State University of New York and City University of New York systems, and the more than 100 private colleges statewide.

“This failing grade indicates that New York has a lot of improving to do to bring it to the head of the class in higher education,” said Miriam Kramer of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a student-backed organization. “This year, the Legislature made some critical improvements to financial aid and increased investment in the state’s public colleges and universities. We look forward to a new executive administration next year that must further increase investment in colleges and financial aid to further enhance access for the state’s neediest students and families.”

The report “inaccurately portrays higher education in New York as unaffordable,” said State University of New York Chancellor John Ryan. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”