25 New Jersey high schools just ranked among the top in the nation in U.S. News’s 2026-2027 Best High Schools rankings.
Roughly 27,000 eligible public high schools were evaluated—and nearly 18,000 of them ranked. New Jersey posted 44% of its ranked schools in the national top quarter, the 2nd-highest share of any state behind Massachusetts (47%).
The Top 10 High Schools in New Jersey
- High Technology High School, Lincroft – No. 28 nationally, 100% graduation rate, also No. 1 STEM school in the country
- Edison Academy Magnet School – No. 40 nationally, 100% graduation rate
- Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains – No. 59 nationally, 100% graduation rate
- Biotechnology High School, Freehold – No. 72 nationally, 100% graduation rate
- Woodbridge Academy Magnet School – No. 75 nationally, 100% graduation rate
- Bergen County Academies, Hackensack – No. 78 nationally, 99% graduation rate, 1,130 students—notably larger than every other ranked school
- Academy for Information Technology, Scotch Plains – No. 83 nationally, 100% graduation rate
- Bergen County Technical High School, Teterboro – No. 84 nationally, 99% graduation rate
- Dr. Ronald E. McNair High School, Jersey City – No. 114 nationally, 100% graduation rate
- Academy for Allied Health Sciences, Scotch Plains – No. 126 nationally, 100% graduation rate
What the Rankings Reveal
Notably, a majority of the schools in the top 10 are magnet or vocational-technical schools—not traditional high schools—with student bodies totalling under 320. Bergen County Academies is an outlier at over 1,100 students enrolled. Scotch Plains is well-represented with three schools making the top 10.
U.S. News & World Report analyzes six key measures to rank schools: state assessment performance, graduation rates, college readiness, service to underserved students, AP/IB participation and performance, curriculum breadth.
In total, 25 New Jersey high schools were named in the ranking. You can read the full report of the top high schools in America here.
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.
