Parents of high school students in New Jersey looking for in-state college options got some good news this week.
The biggest New Jersey news to come out of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings for 2024 is the huge jump by Rutgers University. Rutgers’ New Brunswick College is the No. 15 top public university. This is New Brunswick’s highest ranking ever in the category. Plus, it ranked 40th among all national universities, public and private, for the first time, moving up 15 places from No. 55 last year.
The Newark and Camden campuses of Rutgers ranked among the top 50 public and top 100 national universities as well. Rutgers-Newark placed 40th, up from No. 53 last year; and Rutgers-Camden jumped from 61 to 49. Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden are also ranked No. 82 and No. 98, respectively, among the nearly 1,500 national universities scored this year (up from 115 and 127 last year, respectively).
The rankings also show for the first time ever that the three Rutgers campuses are among the top 100 national universities in the ranking’s 40-year history.
Rutgers also rose among top performers nationally for social mobility, which assesses how well schools enroll and graduate economically disadvantaged students. Rutgers-Newark ranks No. 21, Rutgers-Camden is No. 35 and Rutgers-New Brunswick is No. 42.
Pell graduation rates – the percentage of students receiving Pell grants who graduate within six years – are figured into social mobility rankings, and all three Rutgers campuses rank in the top 25 for Pell graduation rates: Newark at No. 7, New Brunswick at No. 21 and Camden at No. 25.
Among the 14 Big Ten Conference universities, Rutgers-New Brunswick ranked fourth in the public universities ranking. So far, the football team is 3-0. The women’s field hockey team is 8-0.
Not surprisingly, Princeton University continues to be the top university in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report rankings. Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, with a focus on science, engineering, technology, research, innovation and entrepreneurship, ranks at No. 76. New Jersey Institute of Technology, located in Newark, has a focus on STEM education and ranked 86th this year.
Among new specialized rankings this year is a ranking of the most innovative schools. College presidents, provosts and admissions deans were asked to name up to 15 schools they think are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities. Rutgers-New Brunswick ranks No. 34 for innovative schools among national universities.
These are the top New Jersey schools as they are ranked nationally:
- Princeton University, Princeton
40. Rutgers University-New Brunswick
76. Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken
82. Rutgers University-Newark
86. New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark
98. Rutgers University-Camden
151. Seton Hall University, South Orange
159. Stockton University, Galloway
163. Montclair State University, Montclair
163. (tie) Rowan University, Glassboro
320. Kean University, Union
How schools are ranked
The 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings evaluated nearly 1,500 U.S. four-year bachelor’s degree-granting institutions using 19 key measures of academic quality for national universities. More than half of a school’s rank depends on the school’s success at enrolling, retaining and graduating students from different backgrounds with manageable debt and post-graduate success.
U.S. News said this year’s rankings are more equitable than in past years. They focused more on social mobility and outcomes for graduating college students. Some of the metrics relate to academic reputation, cost of attending and return on investment. One of the biggest changes this year is an emphasis on how often students from all socioeconomic backgrounds earned degrees and took advantage of information on graduate outcomes that was not available until recently.
These are the Top 10 colleges in the country:
1. Princeton University
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Harvard University and Stanford University (tie)
5. Yale University
6. University of Pennsylvania
7. California Institute of Technology
8. Duke University
9. Brown University
10. Johns Hopkins University
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