Colleges in New Jersey With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 26 four-year colleges we rank in New Jersey run from $112,538 at the top to $43,216 at the bottom, a spread of $69,322.
The median college sits at $63,801, which is $4,398 (7%) above the national median of $59,403. Public colleges (10) have a median of $62,019 and private nonprofit colleges (13) a median of $66,386, and the typical net price across the list is $22,767.
Stevens Institute of Technology ranks first at $112,538, ahead of Princeton University ($108,590) and New Jersey Institute of Technology ($91,874).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest 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)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; New Jersey has 26
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- 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.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 26 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $112,538 | $41,346 | $27,000 | 88% | 4,222 |
| 2 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $108,590 | $6,128 | $10,320 | 97% | 5,709 |
| 3 | New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ Public · 4-year | $91,874 | $16,504 | $21,000 | 73% | 9,019 |
| 4 | Felician University Lodi, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $78,605 | $40,045 | $25,000 | 48% | 1,774 |
| 5 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ Public · 4-year | $77,933 | $24,406 | $21,500 | 84% | 37,751 |
| 6 | Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $76,919 | $31,446 | $22,750 | 70% | 6,036 |
| 7 | The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ Public · 4-year | $72,068 | $27,646 | $23,250 | 86% | 7,105 |
| 8 | Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,968 | $30,988 | $27,000 | 71% | 3,684 |
| 9 | Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus Teaneck, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $68,049 | $15,404 | $25,000 | 58% | 2,627 |
| 10 | Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ Public · 4-year | $67,266 | $18,173 | $21,000 | 71% | 4,898 |
| 11 | Saint Elizabeth University Morristown, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $66,386 | $23,125 | $24,934 | 46% | 557 |
| 12 | Caldwell University Caldwell, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,716 | $24,691 | $25,000 | 58% | 1,575 |
| 13 | Saint Peter's University Jersey City, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,352 | $12,199 | $20,500 | 61% | 2,135 |
| 14 | Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,250 | $24,792 | $26,130 | 62% | 3,106 |
| 15 | Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,207 | $20,503 | $23,163 | 56% | 910 |
| 16 | Rowan University Glassboro, NJ Public · 4-year | $62,686 | $22,408 | $20,500 | 68% | 15,841 |
| 17 | Georgian Court University Lakewood, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $62,671 | $19,285 | $21,816 | 54% | 1,195 |
| 18 | Montclair State University Montclair, NJ Public · 4-year | $61,351 | $15,566 | $22,000 | 64% | 18,376 |
| 19 | New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ Public · 4-year | $60,965 | $16,053 | $18,500 | 36% | 3,681 |
| 20 | Eastwick College-Ramsey Ramsey, NJ For-profit · 4-year | $60,033 | $27,074 | $16,084 | 72% | 1,203 |
| 21 | Kean University Union, NJ Public · 4-year | $59,472 | $12,447 | $23,250 | 45% | 11,433 |
| 22 | William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ Public · 4-year | $59,272 | $18,745 | $22,334 | 46% | 6,614 |
| 23 | Drew University Madison, NJ Private nonprofit · 4-year | $59,259 | $24,280 | $25,288 | 71% | 1,533 |
| 24 | Stockton University Galloway, NJ Public · 4-year | $58,872 | $20,670 | $20,500 | 70% | 7,537 |
| 25 | Berkeley College-Woodland Park Woodland Park, NJ For-profit · 4-year | $48,750 | $27,100 | $23,251 | 44% | 1,778 |
| 26 | Eastwick College-Hackensack Hackensack, NJ For-profit · 4-year | $43,216 | $29,885 | $13,264 | 43% | 1,171 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
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Same list in nearby states
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Highest graduate earnings in California
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All 69 colleges in New Jersey See the national version of this ranking