Private colleges, unlike large public institutions, can be a great option for students wanting a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Here is our list of the best private colleges in New Jersey.
Nearly half of the colleges and universities in this state are private, and tuition rates range from $6,000 to $52,000. With a graduation rate of 97% and a student population of just over 7,000, Princeton University is the state’s most esteemed institution. Narrowing in on the sciences and arts, this Ivy League school offers unique areas of study, including robotics, intelligent systems, and public life. The remaining 31 public colleges and universities range in tuition from $4,000 to $17,000.
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The state’s largest and top-ranked public research institution is Rutgers University. With campuses in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden as well as smaller locations across the state, Rutgers awards degrees in physics, economics, criminal justice, and psychology. New Jersey also has 11 religiously affiliated colleges and universities, including the oldest diocesan university in the United States, Seton Hall University. This Roman Catholic university has a tuition rate of $42,000 and a student population of over 8,000.
New Jersey, known for its sandy shores and busy expressways, also has more diners than any other state in the U.S., as well as the world’s longest boardwalk, located in Atlantic City. Many influential people, including Buzz Aldrin, Frank Sinatra, and Thomas Edison, have called The Garden State home. Visitors can even peek at some of Edison’s early light bulbs at the Menlo Park Museum. And with 50 higher learning institutions to choose from, students can find a school that suits their career path and budget.
Learn more about earning your degree from one of New Jersey’s highly regarded colleges and universities.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
This list is composed entirely of private colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 15 private universities in New Jersey; 9 of which meet our criteria. The list below of the best private universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
6%
Graduation
98%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1515/34
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Princeton University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
69%
Student body
2K
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Drew University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$56K
Acceptance
53%
Graduation
88%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1420/32
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Stevens Institute of Technology’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
72%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/26
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Seton Hall University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
55%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1015/20
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Saint Peter's University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
79%
Graduation
74%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/24
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Monmouth University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
64%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1045/20
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Caldwell University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$46K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
65%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1115/22
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Rider University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
62%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1043/20
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Centenary University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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