Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges 2022 names 5 from N.J.

Princeton, TCNJ, Drew, NJIT, Stevens among 209 recognized

The Princeton Review on Tuesday published its list of Best Value Colleges for 2022, with Princeton University ranking No. 1 on its list of Top 50 Private Best Value Colleges overall.

The College of New Jersey, Drew University, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Stevens Institute of Technology were among the 209 schools honored on the alphabetical list, of which nine are tuition-free.

The 2022 list was based on the Review’s survey of more than 650 institutions during the 2020-21 school year and names the public and private colleges that have earned the education services company’s highest Return on Investment rating — a score the company tallies using more than 40 data points. Criteria such as school-reported data on academics, cost/financial aid, career services, student debt and graduation rates, as well as data on the levels of job satisfaction and salary of school alumni were all factored into the tallies.

“The schools we chose as our Best Value Colleges for 2022 are a select group: They comprise only about 7% of the nation’s four-year undergraduate institutions,” Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of the Princeton Review, said. “We commend their administrators, faculties, staff and alumni for all they are doing to educate their students and guide them to success in their careers. These colleges are also exceptional for the generous amount of financial aid they award to students with need and/or for their comparatively low cost of attendance.”