As teens are in the thick of deciding where they’ll go to college this fall, they often look to rankings to see how the schools stack up on key metrics like academics, diversity and more. Niche recently released its latest rankings of New Jersey’s colleges and universities.
No. 1 on the list, Princeton University, is also the 10th best university in the country. Niche gave Princeton an A+ ranking in academics, diversity and value; an A- grade in athletics and the campus, and a B+ for the party scene. It’s consistently been ranked the top university in the country for years, with degrees in computer science, economics and public policy among the most popular.
Rutgers University’s three campuses ranked in the top 15: New Brunswick is No. 2, Newark is No. 6 and Camden is No. 9. Rutgers pride exists all across the state and the New Brunswick campus placed first as the top public university in the state. New Brunswick received an A+ for diversity and party scene; an A for academics and athletics: a B+ for value; and a B- for the campus – with an overall A grade.
Stevens Institute of Technology is located in downtown Hoboken, combining quality tech education with a city-like atmosphere. With an overall grade of A-, the individual scores are A- in academics, diversity and value; B+ in party scene; and C+ in campus and athletics.
Brookdale Community College in Lincroft is the only community college on the list, placing 8th out of the Top 10. This is the third consecutive year it’s been ranked so high, and is No. 86 out of 755 community colleges nationwide. The overall B+ rating reflects an A- for campus, B+ for diversity, B for academics, B- for value, but no evaluation of athletics or party scene. Brookdale offers associate’s degrees in arts, fine arts, science and applied science across 75 academic programs; seven academic credit certificates; 11 academic credit certificates of achievement; and fully online degree programs in business administration, English, history, liberal education, political science, psychology, sociology, social sciences and cybersecurity.
Niche evaluated factors such as academics, acceptance rate, value, grades for professors given by students, campus food and housing, ethnic diversity, safety, athletics, and overall student/alumni experience. This year, Niche introduced an economic mobility index to assess how well institutions improve the economic standing of low-income students, and removed ACT/SAT scores from its methodology.
The top 15 colleges and universities in New Jersey in 2025, according to Niche, are:
- Princeton University, Princeton
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick
- Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken
- New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark
- The College of New Jersey, Ewing
- Rutgers University, Newark
- Seton Hall University, South Orange
- Brookdale Community College, Lincroft
- Rutgers University, Camden
- Montclair State University, Montclair
- Kean University, Union
- Rowan University, Glassboro
- William Paterson University, Wayne
- Stockton University, Galloway
- Saint Elizabeth University, Morristown
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