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.
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 student-to-faculty rate of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $110,066 during the early years of their career.. You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rutgers University - New Brunswick. It ranked #2 on our 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. During the early years of their career, graduates from Rutgers New Brunswick make an average of $74,479 a year. You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Stevens Institute of Technology. The school came in at #3 in New Jersey on this year’s overall quality ranking. 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. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers Newark is $74,479 during the early years of their career. Out of the 45 schools in New Jersey that were part of this year’s ranking, New Jersey Institute of Technology landed the #5 spot on the list. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from NJIT is $84,276 during the early years of their career.1
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With a ranking of #6, The College of New Jersey did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from TCNJ go into careers with an average salary of $73,323 during the early years of their career.
Rutgers University - Camden landed the #7 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers Camden go into careers with an average salary of $74,479 during the early years of their career. Bergen Community College came in at #8 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 $46,624 during the early years of their career.. With a ranking of #9, Seton Hall 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 Seton Hall is $70,196 during the early years of their career. Montclair State University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking, coming in at #10. Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $61,415 during the early years of their career..7
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Rider University landed the #11 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Rider is $62,208 during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #12, William Paterson University of New Jersey did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list. 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. Rowan University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Rowan go into careers with an average salary of $59,988 during the early years of their career. Essex County College landed the #14 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking. During the early years of their career, graduates from Essex make an average of $37,230 a year. Monmouth University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Monmouth go into careers with an average salary of $67,991 during the early years of their career.12
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Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus ranked #16 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list.
Upon graduation, bachelor’s degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $57,273 during the early years of their career..
Full Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus Report
With a ranking of #17, Thomas Edison State University did quite well on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey list. Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from TESU go into careers with an average salary of $69,331 during the early years of their career. Ramapo College of New Jersey came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking. 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. Felician University did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking, coming in at #20. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Felician is $57,602 during the early years of their career.17
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Kean University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
Those who receive a bachelor’s degree from Kean go into careers with an average salary of $57,237 during the early years of their career.
Ocean County College came in at #22 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 $45,210 during the early years of their career.. Middlesex County College did quite well in the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking, coming in at #23. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Middlesex County College make an average of $46,861 per year during the early years of their career. Rowan College at Burlington County ranked #24 on this year’s Best Colleges in New Jersey list. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1% Graduates with a bachelor’s degree from RCBC make an average of $44,745 per year during the early years of their career. Union County College landed the #25 spot on the 2025 Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking. The average salary of a graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Union County College is $41,595 during the early years of their career.22232425
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.