WalletHub’s new 2026 Best College & University Rankings are out and Princeton University is at the top of the national list once again. The rankings dig into which colleges and universities deliver the best bang for the buck by comparing nearly 800 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 30 key measures.
Those measures include selectivity, cost and financing, career outcomes, student-faculty ratio, graduation rate and post-attendance median salary. Princeton came out on top in admission rate, student-faculty ratio, gender and racial disparity, graduation rate and post-attendance median salary.
According to WalletHub’s 2026 rankings, these are the ten best colleges and universities in New Jersey:
- Princeton University
- Stevens Institute of Technology
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- The College of New Jersey
- Rutgers University–New Brunswick
- Drew University
- Rutgers University–Camden
- Rider University
- Ramapo College of New Jersey
- Rowan University
With the job market for new college grads among the toughest in years (unemployment rates are at around 4.59% for ages 23–27 in 2025, according to the New York Fed Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), families are looking at affordability, value and to for data about employment outcomes. We asked the team at Wallet Hub how this was taken into account for its 2026 rankings.
“WalletHub measures Return on Educational Investment by comparing graduates’ earnings to the actual cost of obtaining their degree – a critical benchmark in today’s tough job market,” WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo tells New Jersey Family. “The ROI metric specifically captures the ratio of graduates’ starting salaries to their education costs, highlighting which institutions provide the best financial payoff for students’ time and money. It’s part of WalletHub’s broader ‘Career Outcomes’ category, which also looks at factors like post-attendance median salary, employment rates within six months of graduation, and student loan repayment success.”
For the full methodology and all the key metrics that went into this year’s rankings, click here.
Here’s a snapshot of how New Jersey’s top 10 schools in WalletHub’s rankings performed across key metrics:
Princeton University (1 = Best; 7 = Average; 13 = Worst)
- 1st – Admission Rate
- 12th – Net Cost
- 1st – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 13th – On-Campus Crime
- 1st – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 1st – Graduation Rate
- 1st – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Stevens Institute of Technology
- 2nd – Admission Rate
- 13th – Net Cost
- 2nd – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 7th – On-Campus Crime
- 7th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 2nd – Graduation Rate
- 1st – Post-Attendance Median Salary
NOTE: Beginning with the incoming fall class of 2026, Stevens will offer full tuition coverage to first-time, first-year, full-time undergraduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and whose families earn $75,000 or less per year, according to a recent announcement.
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
- 5th – Admission Rate
- 1st – Net Cost
- 10th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 5th – On-Campus Crime
- 5th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 5th – Graduation Rate
- 3rd – Post-Attendance Median Salary
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)
- 3rd – Admission Rate
- 9th – Net Cost
- 7th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 8th – On-Campus Crime
- 10th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 3rd – Graduation Rate
- 6th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Rutgers University–New Brunswick
- 4th – Admission Rate
- 7th – Net Cost
- 9th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 2nd – On-Campus Crime
- 2nd – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 3rd – Graduation Rate
- 4th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Drew University
- 6th – Admission Rate
- 8th – Net Cost
- 3rd – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 12th – On-Campus Crime
- 9th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 6th – Graduation Rate
- 10th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Rutgers University–Camden
- 8th – Admission Rate
- 2nd – Net Cost
- 4th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 9th – On-Campus Crime
- 3rd – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 12th – Graduation Rate
- 4th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Rider University
- 10th – Admission Rate
- 6th – Net Cost
- 4th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 11th – On-Campus Crime
- 6th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 13th – Graduation Rate
- 11th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Ramapo College of New Jersey
- 7th – Admission Rate
- 4th – Net Cost
- 10th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 10th – On-Campus Crime
- 8th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 6th – Graduation Rate
- 9th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
Rowan University
- 8th – Admission Rate
- 5th – Net Cost
- 10th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 6th – On-Campus Crime
- 12th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 11th – Graduation Rate
- 12th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
To see the full 2026 national rankings, click here. WalletHub’s 2026 list differs a bit when compared with US News & World Report’s ranking of NJ’s best colleges and universities. See that list and methodology here.
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