Four New Jersey schools were just named within the top 100 in America in Time Magazine’s first-ever college ranking.
Time Magazine released its inaugural “America’s Best Colleges” ranking—which evaluated 500 schools in the nation across a variety of metrics.
17 New Jersey schools made the full list of 500, while four cracked the top 100.
4 NJ Schools Make Top 100 in Nation
No surprises here, Princeton University is NJ’s top-rated school, ranking No. 4 in the nation. The prestigious Ivy League school scored a 93.50 overall in Time’s evaluation, with a 94.35 in student outcomes, 85.10 in learning environment, and 99.67 in attractiveness.
Behind it, Stevens Institute of Technology ranks No. 30 in the nation with an 85.17 overall score, New Jersey Institute of Technology ranks No. 95 with a 78.29, and The College of New Jersey ranks No. 99 with a 77.80.
Most schools in the top 100 post relatively even scores across each category, except for TCNJ, which stands out with a relatively low learning environment score (39.32) and a strong student outcomes score (85.98) balancing it out.
17 NJ Schools Make Top 500
In total, 17 schools made Time’s ranking, which extends to 500 schools across the country. Here are the additional New Jersey schools that made the cut.
- Montclair State University
- Rutgers University (all campuses)
- Saint Peter’s University
- Ramapo College of New Jersey
- Stockton University
- Rowan University
- Drew University
- Monmouth University
- Seton Hall University
- Kean University
- William Paterson University of New Jersey
- Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Felician University
It’s no secret that New Jersey’s higher education is among the strongest in the nation—and that’s proven on Time Magazine’s inaugural America’s Best Colleges of 2026-2027 ranking.
Check out the full list here.
Lifelong Jersey resident and Rutgers and FDU alumnus, Tom La Vecchia is publisher of New Jersey Digest, one of the state’s leading lifestyle media brands. When he’s not growing the Digest, he’s raising four kids, wrangling four cats and pretending it’s all under control. His mission: keep Jersey interesting and impossible to ignore.
