Six New Jersey colleges were just named among the top 100 in the nation—and a familiar Ivy League school once again lands in the top 10.
Princeton University was named the No. 2 school in America in the U.S. News 2027 Best Colleges Rankings. Five other NJ schools ranked in the top 100 for National Universities, while one other school ranked in the top 100 for National Liberal Arts Colleges—a separate category.
The Best Schools in the Nation
The top 10 in this year’s list looks pretty similar to last year. That’s because all 10 of the 2026 top 10 returned this year, albeit with a reshuffled order.
Princeton landed the No. 1 spot in 2026, but was dethroned in 2027 by MIT. Here’s the full top 10, in order:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Cambridge, MA
- Princeton University – Princeton, NJ
- Harvard University – Cambridge, MA
- Yale University – New Haven, CT
- California Institute of Technology – Pasadena, CA
- Stanford University – Stanford, CA
- University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, PA
- Duke University – Durham, NC
- Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore, MD
- Northwestern University – Evanston, IL
U.S. News changed around some of its usual methodology. For the first time, they incorporated the 2025 Carnegie Classification update, reshuffling which category some schools are ranked in. This caused some schools to shift between National Universities, Regional Universities, etc. Postgraduate earnings by major also replaced graduate indebtedness—now worth 5% of the overall ranking formula.
The Best Schools in New Jersey
Beyond the 10 best, New Jersey had schools scattered throughout the top 100. Here are the top NJ colleges and their ranks:
- Princeton University – Princeton, NJ (No. 2)
- Rutgers University New Brunswick – New Brunswick, NJ (No. 44)
- Stevens Institute of Technology – Hoboken, NJ (No. 59)
- Rutgers University Newark – Newark, NJ (No. 73)
- New Jersey Institute of Technology – Newark, NJ (No. 85)
- Rutgers University Camden – Camden, NJ (No. 95)
Additionally, Drew University in Madison, NJ was named the No. 85 school in the U.S News National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. You can find that list here.
New Jersey’s presence in the U.S. News 2027 Best Colleges Rankings once again provides the proof that the Garden State is an excellent place for higher education.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
