Best Value Colleges in New Jersey
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical New Jersey high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 22 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 0.3 years at the fastest to 4.4 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.1 years to repay its net price, 0.1 years faster than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (9) have a median payback of 2.6 years against 3.1 years for the 13 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Princeton University ranks first at 0.3 years, ahead of New Jersey Institute of Technology (1.2 years) and Saint Peter's University (1.8 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in New Jersey
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; New Jersey has 22
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 22 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.3 years | $6,128 | $108,590 | $10,320 | 97% |
| 2 | New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ Public · 4-year | 1.2 years | $16,504 | $91,874 | $21,000 | 73% |
| 3 | Saint Peter's University Jersey City, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.8 years | $12,199 | $64,352 | $20,500 | 61% |
| 4 | Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus Teaneck, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $15,404 | $68,049 | $25,000 | 58% |
| 5 | Kean University Union, NJ Public · 4-year | 2.2 years | $12,447 | $59,472 | $23,250 | 45% |
| 6 | Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.2 years | $41,346 | $112,538 | $27,000 | 88% |
| 7 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ Public · 4-year | 2.4 years | $24,406 | $77,933 | $21,500 | 84% |
| 8 | Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ Public · 4-year | 2.4 years | $18,173 | $67,266 | $21,000 | 71% |
| 9 | Montclair State University Montclair, NJ Public · 4-year | 2.6 years | $15,566 | $61,351 | $22,000 | 64% |
| 10 | Georgian Court University Lakewood, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.0 years | $19,285 | $62,671 | $21,816 | 54% |
| 11 | Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $31,446 | $76,919 | $22,750 | 70% |
| 12 | Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $20,503 | $63,207 | $23,163 | 56% |
| 13 | Saint Elizabeth University Morristown, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $23,125 | $66,386 | $24,934 | 46% |
| 14 | The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $27,646 | $72,068 | $23,250 | 86% |
| 15 | William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ Public · 4-year | 3.4 years | $18,745 | $59,272 | $22,334 | 46% |
| 16 | Rowan University Glassboro, NJ Public · 4-year | 3.5 years | $22,408 | $62,686 | $20,500 | 68% |
| 17 | Caldwell University Caldwell, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $24,691 | $64,716 | $25,000 | 58% |
| 18 | Stockton University Galloway, NJ Public · 4-year | 3.8 years | $20,670 | $58,872 | $20,500 | 70% |
| 19 | Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $24,792 | $63,250 | $26,130 | 62% |
| 20 | Felician University Lodi, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $40,045 | $78,605 | $25,000 | 48% |
| 21 | Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.9 years | $30,988 | $68,968 | $27,000 | 71% |
| 22 | Drew University Madison, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.4 years | $24,280 | $59,259 | $25,288 | 71% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
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All 69 colleges in New Jersey See the national version of this ranking