Five New Jersey schools received at least 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 in the revamped “Best Colleges” list that was released by Money magazine on Thursday.
Princeton University was the only school to receive 5 stars among the 21 New Jersey schools that were ranked. New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University – New Brunswick, Stevens Institute of Technology and The College of New Jersey all received 4.5 stars.
Money evaluated 736 institutions from the more than 2,400 four-year public and private nonprofit colleges in the U.S. and focused on 24 factors in three main categories that surveys have shown are the most important to students: quality of education, affordability and alumni outcomes.
The rankings analyzed data points such as graduation rates, net price of a degree, debt incurred, ability to repay debt and alumni earnings to find the country’s top performing institutions.
In addition, Money incorporated earning and employment data reported in the federal College Scorecard — and incorporated data reported in an economic mobility index developed by Third Way that assesses which institutions are catalyzing economic mobility for low- and moderate-income students.
NJIT President Teik Lim said the school was thrilled and honored to score so highly.
“Money’s analysis affirms NJIT as one of the best values in higher education and considers factors that are most important to students and their families,” he said. “As a public polytechnic research university, NJIT prepares students for success in fields that are critical to businesses, are in high demand across all industries and encourage entrepreneurial spirit.”
A look at how the top N.J. schools fared:
5 stars
- Princeton
4.5 stars
- NJIT
- Rutgers-New Brunswick
- Stevens
- TCNJ
4 stars
- Caldwell University
- Centenary University
- Felician University
- Monmouth University
- Montclair State University
- Ramapo College of New Jersey
- Rider University
- Rowan University
- Saint Peter’s University
- Stockton University
