New Jersey Schools – Overview
Few states have as high a concentration of colleges and universities as the state of New Jersey. This is both a consequence of New Jersey’s long and historic past as a colony and then a state, and its high population density. New Jersey ranks first in the nation for population density, with over 8 million individuals calling the relatively small Northeastern state home, the “Liberty and Prosperity” state attracts both the best and the brightest that this nation offers, while providing a copious amount of educational options for in-state students as well. Prospective students who are interested in New Jersey schools will be met with a wide variety of public and private schools, as well as many religious-based schools and several technical schools for career-ready students.
There are 66 colleges and universities that are currently recognized by New Jersey’s accrediting body, the Commission on Higher Education. This includes eight for-profit schools, three public research institutions, eight state colleges and universities, and 14 private post-secondary schools. There are also 19 community colleges and 14 religious schools. All of these schools are accredited, with degree offerings ranging from Associate’s to Doctoral degrees, and some certificate and endorsement programs available.
The state’s public institutions are highly ranked both regionally and nationally, with many specialized degree programs that rank nationally and regionally as well. The three public research universities in the state are: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rowan University. The state colleges and universities are: The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Stockton University, Thomas Edison State College, and William Paterson University. Of these, Rutgers University is undoubtedly the most well-known and the highest ranked. Split into three separate campuses, each with different tuition rates, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey operates out of Camden, New Brunswick and Newark, New Jersey. Each of these campuses also ranks separately on U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings. The Camden campus ranks at #36 among Regional Universities (North), while the New Brunswick and Newark campuses each rank nationally: New Brunswick at #72, and Newark at #140.
Most of the other public schools in New Jersey also rank well regionally. Rowan University, one of the other two public research universities, is comfortably placed at #19 for regional universities, and Ramapo College of New Jersey is placed at #26. William Paterson University of New Jersey and Stockton University also rank nationally, at #104 and #53, respectively. Montclair university meanwhile is tied at #34 among regional universities. The last public research university, New Jersey Institute of Technology, is well placed among its peers at #140 among National Universities. Interestingly, the New Jersey Institute of Technology has the highest in-state tuition rate, at just under $16,000, despite being lower ranked than the Rutgers University New Brunswick campus (~$14,000 in-state tuition), and being tied with the Rutgers University Newark campus (~$14,000). Except for Rowan University, each of the state’s public research universities has a similar out-of-state tuition cost, at around $29,000 each. Rowan presents a bargain among these at ~$21,000 in annual tuition costs.
Several of the private institutions in New Jersey are world-renowned. The historic and trend-setting Princeton University was founded in 1746, and ranks impressively at #1 among national universities according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual college rankings. Indeed, this makes Princeton the best in the nation for all colleges. While this does not mean the school is
the best at everything, it does mean that a degree from Princeton will pay off much more than at most other universities. Understandably, acceptance into Princeton is not easy. The school has a 7.4% acceptance rate, and an annual tuition of over $43,000. That tuition rate is slightly misleading, however. Princeton has an impressively high endowment of $22.7 billion, making the school’s endowment larger than the gross domestic product of slightly less than half of the world’s countries (and indeed, would place Princeton at #104, above Cyprus and below El Salvador). Most students who are accepted into the school receive some sort of tuition assistance. Most students middle-income and below students who are accepted attain 100% payment on their tuition from the school. This means that the actual average annual cost for students who receive federal financial aid is around $8,000, putting the school at well below the national average for tuition rates.
Students interested in New Jersey should consider that the state is in the Northeast, where most colleges and universities cost around or more than the national average, including the public institutions. Fortunately, most colleges in the state, including the community colleges, boast of post-graduation salaries that average at or above the national average, including the community colleges.
Traditional Colleges in New Jersey
Berkeley College
- Site – www.berkeleycollege.edu
- Phone – 800-446-5400
- Admissions – admissions@berkeleycollege.edu
- Financial Aid – financialaid@berkeleycollege.edu
Bloomfield College
- Site – www.bloomfield.edu
- Phone – 973-748-9000 x230
- Admissions – admission@bloomfield.edu
- Financial Aid – admission@bloomfield.edu
Caldwell College
- Site – www.caldwell.edu
- Phone – 888-864-9516
- Admissions – sheenan@pilot.njin.net.edu
- Financial Aid – landerson@caldwell.edu
Centenary College
- Site – www.centenary.edu
- Phone – 800-236-8679
- Admissions – admissions@centenarycollege.edu
- Financial Aid – admissions@centenarycollege.edu
College of New Jersey
- Site – www.tcnj.pages.tcnj.edu
- Phone – 800-624-0967
- Admissions – admiss@vm.tcnj.edu
- Financial Aid – osfa@tcnj.edu
College of St. Elizabeth
- Site – www.cse.edu
- Phone – 800-210-7900
- Admissions – apply@cse.edu
- Financial Aid – financialaid@cse.edu
Drew University
- Site – www.drew.edu
- Phone – 973-408-3703
- Admissions – cadm@drew.edu
- Financial Aid – finaid@drew.edu
Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Site – www.fdu.edu
- 800-338-8803
- Admissions – grad@fdu.edu
- Financial Aid – grad@fdu.edu
Georgian Court University
- Site – www.georgian.edu
- Phone – 800-458-8422x 2760
- Admissions – admissions@georgian.edu
- Financial Aid – financialaid@georgian.edu
Kean University
- Site – www.kean.edu
- Phone – 908-527-2195
- Admissions – admitme@kean.edu
- Financial Aid – admitme@kean.edu
Monmouth University
- Site – www.monmouth.edu
- Phone – 800-543-9671
- Admissions – admission@monmouth.edu
- Financial Aid – ask_finaid@monmouth.edu
Montclair State University
- Site – www.montclair.edu
- Phone – 973-655-4000
- Admissions – undergraduate.admissions@montclair.edu
- Financial Aid – financialaid@montclair.edu
New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Site – www.njit.edu
- Phone – 800-925-6548
- Admissions – admissions@njit.edu
- Financial Aid – finaid@njit.edu
Princeton University
- Site – www.princeton.edu
- Phone – 609-258-3060
- Admissions – admissions@princeton.edu
- Financial Aid – faoffice@princeton.edu
Ramapo College
- Site – www.ramapo.edu
- Phone – 201-684-7300
- Admissions – admissions@ramapo.edu
- Financial Aid – finaid@ramapo.edu
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
- Site – www.stockton.edu
- Phone – 609-652-4261
- Admissions – admissions@stockton.edu
- Financial Aid – Finaid@stockton.edu
Rider University
- Site – www.rider.edu
- Phone – 800-257-9026
- Admissions – admissions@rider.edu
- Financial Aid – admissions@rider.edu
Rowan University
- Site – www.rowan.edu
- Phone – 800-447-1165
- Admissions – admissions@rowan.edu
- Financial Aid – financial_aid@rowan.edu
Rutgers University
- Site – www.rutgers.edu
- Phone – 732-932-INFO
- Admissions – admissions@rutgers
- Financial Aid – ask_finaid@email.rutgers.edu
Seton Hall University
- Site – www.shu.edu
- Phone – 1-800-THE-HALL
- Admissions – thehall@shu.edu
- Financial Aid – financialaid@shu.edu
Stevens Institute of Technology
- Site – www.stevens-tech.edu
- Phone – 800-458-5323
- Admissions – admissions@stevens-tech.edu
- Financial Aid – admissions@stevens-tech.edu
Community Colleges – New Jersey
Assumption College for Sisters
- Site – www.acs350.org
- Address – 350 Bernardsville Rd, Mendham, NJ 07945
- Phone – (973) 543-6528
Atlantic Cape Community College
- Site – www.atlantic.edu
- Address – 5100 E Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
- Phone – (609) 625-1111
Bergen Community College
- Site – www.bergen.edu
- Address – 400 Paramus Rd, Paramus, NJ 07652
- Phone – (201) 447-7100
Brookdale Community College
- Site – www.brookdalecc.edu
- Address – 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738
- Phone – (732) 224-2345
Burlington County College
- Site – www.bcc.edu
- Address – 1536, 601 Pemberton Browns Mills Rd, Pemberton, NJ 08068
- Phone – (856) 222-9311
Camden County College
- Site – www.camdencc.edu
- Address – 200 College Dr, Blackwood, NJ 08012
- Phone – (856) 227-7200
County College of Morris
- Site – www.ccm.edu
- Address – 214 Center Grove Rd, Randolph, NJ 07869
- Phone – (973) 328-5000
Cumberland County College
- Site – www.cccnj.edu
- Address – 3322 College Dr, Vineland, NJ 08360
- Phone – (856) 691-8600
Essex County College
- Site – www.essex.edu
- Address – 303 University Ave, Newark, NJ 07102
- Phone – (973) 877-3000
Gloucester County College
- Site – www.gccnj.edu
- Address – 1400 Tanyard Rd, Sewell, NJ 08080
- Phone – (856) 468-5000
Hudson County Community College
- Site – www.hccc.edu
- Address – 70 Sip Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306
- Phone – (201) 714-7100
Mercer County Community College
- Site – www.mccc.edu
- Address – 1200 Old Trenton Rd, West Windsor Township, NJ 08550
- Phone – (609) 586-4800
Middlesex County College
- Site – www2.middlesexcc.edu
- Address – 155 Mill Rd, Edison, NJ 08837
- Phone – (732) 548-6000
Ocean County College
- Site – www.ocean.edu
- Address – 1 College Dr, Toms River, NJ 08754
- Phone – (732) 255-0400
Passaic County Community College
- Site – www.pccc.edu
- Address – 1 College Blvd, Paterson, NJ 07505
- Phone – (973) 684-6100
Raritan Valley Community College
- Site – www.raritanval.edu
- Address – 118 Lamington Rd, Branchburg, NJ 08876
- Phone – (908) 526-1200
Salem Community College
- Site – www.salemcc.edu
- Address – 460 Hollywood Ave, Penns Grove, NJ 08069
- Phone – (856) 299-2100
Sussex County Community College
- Site – sussex.edu
- Address – 1 College Hill Rd, Newton, NJ 07860
- Phone – (973) 300-2100
Union County College
- Site – www.ucc.edu
- Address – 1033 Springfield Ave, Cranford, NJ 07016
- Phone – (908) 709-7000
Warren County Community College
- Site – www.warren.edu
- Address – 475 NJ-57, Washington, NJ 07882
- Phone – (908) 835-9222
Trade, Career And Vocational Schools – New Jersey
Bergen
Berkeley College
Blackwell
Pennco Tech
Anthem Institute
Harris School of Business
Prism Career Institute
Strayer University
Cherry Hill
Dover Business College
Clifton
Dover Business College
Dover
Lincoln Technical Institute
PC Age Career Institute
Edison
Prism Career Institute
Egg Harbor Township
Divers Academy International
Erial
Harris School
Hamilton
Jersey City
Anthem Institute
University of Phoenix
Lincoln Technical Institute
Mahwah
Harris School of Business
Linwood
Marlton
CDM Institute
Melrose Park
Lincoln Tech
Berkeley College
Newark
Lincoln Technical Institute
Mount Laurel
Anthem Institute
DeVry University
Keller Graduate School of Management
North Brunswick
Dover Business College
Paramus
Anthem Institute
Parsippany
Pennsauken
Omega Institute
Saddle Brook
Helma Institute
Central Career School
Everest Institute
South Plainfield
Berdan Institute
Summit
Totowa
Berdan Institute
Trenton
Harris School
National Massage Therapy Institute
Turnersville
Advantage Career Institute
West Long Branch
Berdan Institute
CDM Institute
Wayne
CDM Institute
Vineland
Lincoln Technical Institute
Union
West Paterson
Berkeley College
Willingboro
Strayer University
Online Degrees and Programs In New Jersey
Most of New Jersey’s colleges and universities have made way online learning in their schools. As a result, almost all of the schools in the state offer some form of online degree programs and certificate programs. Prospective students interested in the online programs within the state will find that many of the best ranked programs are also at some of the state’s highest ranked schools. This includes both public and private institutions, as well as the state’s handful of community colleges. Among the top programs in the state are those found at Rowan University, Caldwell University, Saint Peter’s University, Seton Hall University, Thomas Edison State College and Fairleigh Dickinson University.
As a whole, however, New Jersey’s students do not take onlie courses in any significant portion. As of 2012, only 7.4% of the students enrolled in Title IV institutions were taking fully-online courses. Because the state’s schools are also more expensive than in most other places in the country, programs that do exist are more expensive per-credit. The most affordable programs can be found at Thomas Edison State College ($407 per credit), Rowan University ($436 per credit), Saint Peter’s University ($500 per credit) and Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus ($946 per credit).
In general, the top colleges in the state are well behind most other states in offering valuable online degree programs. New Jersey’s community colleges do offer many online programs across each of the colleges. This is coordinated through the New Jersey Distance Education Affinity Group. Rowan University, where the best online degree programs can be found among the state’s public universities, offers 39 programs of various sorts for students interested in taking their learning online. This includes four Bachelor’s degrees, 13 Master’s degrees and 5 Doctoral degrees (all of which are in education). The remainder of the programs are certificates, endorsements and post-baccalaureate degrees. Most of the other degree programs available at the top-ranked schools are extremely limited. Some, such as Seton Hall University, only offer a handful of Master’s degree programs online. Others, such as Saint Peter’s University, offer online one.