by our College Data Analytics TeamIt's not easy to decide which college to attend when you have so many options available. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our Top New Jersey Colleges ranking is part of that endeavor.
After analyzing 45 schools in New Jersey, we came up with our list of those that offered the highest quality education. Our ranking is based on over 20 objective factors, including post graduate earnings, freshman retention, and graduation rate. We steer clear of subjective measures since they don't give a clear picture when determining how one school compares to another.
Get more details on our ranking methodology.
We've developed a number of other tools and rankings to help you make your college decision. Start by filtering this list by location or field of study and then explore our other rankings that feature schools great for different groups of students such as veterans or returnings adults.
We've created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you're torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another!
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2025 rankings named Princeton University the best school in New Jersey in terms of overall quality for students working on their bachelor’s degree.
The school boasts an average 4-year graduation rate of 90%, which is excellent when compared to the national rate of 33%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Princeton go into careers with an average salary of $110,066 during the early years of their career.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Rutgers University - New Brunswick helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in New Jersey.
With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $74,479 during the early years of their career..
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stevens Institute of Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Stevens is $108,772 during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Rutgers University - Newark. The school came in at #4 in New Jersey on this year’s overall quality ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers Newark make an average of $74,479 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend New Jersey Institute of Technology. The school came in at #5 in New Jersey on this year’s overall quality ranking.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from NJIT go into careers with an average salary of $84,276 during the early years of their career.
The College of New Jersey landed the #6 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from TCNJ is $73,323 during the early years of their career.
Rutgers University - Camden came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Rutgers Camden make an average of $74,479 a year.
Bergen Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Bergen Community College is $46,624 during the early years of their career.
Seton Hall University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall go into careers with an average salary of $70,196 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #10, Montclair State University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Montclair State is $61,415 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #11, Rider University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $62,208 during the early years of their career..
William Paterson University of New Jersey came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from William Paterson University go into careers with an average salary of $57,780 during the early years of their career.
Read full report on William Paterson University of New Jersey
Rowan University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $59,988 during the early years of their career..
Essex County College ranked #14 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Essex make an average of $37,230 per year during the early years of their career.
Monmouth University landed the #15 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Monmouth make an average of $67,991 per year during the early years of their career.
Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
During the early years of their career, graduates from FDU make an average of $57,273 a year.
Thomas Edison State University landed the #17 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from TESU is $69,331 during the early years of their career.
Ramapo College of New Jersey ranked #18 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Ramapo College go into careers with an average salary of $67,541 during the early years of their career.
Stockton University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Stockton State go into careers with an average salary of $57,602 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #20, Felician University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Felician is $57,602 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #21, Kean University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Kean make an average of $57,237 a year.
Ocean County College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from OCC make an average of $45,210 per year during the early years of their career.
Middlesex County College ranked #23 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
During the early years of their career, graduates from Middlesex County College make an average of $46,861 a year.
Rowan College at Burlington County did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking, coming in at #24.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from RCBC go into careers with an average salary of $44,745 during the early years of their career.
Union County College ranked #25 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Union County College go into careers with an average salary of $41,595 during the early years of their career.
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.