Money just published its 2022 list of the nation’s “Best Colleges for Your Money.” Based on measures of quality, affordability and outcomes, TCNJ ranked #39 overall, and #7 among public institutions of our size (10,000 or fewer students).
“The College of New Jersey is a public school that could easily be confused for a private one, due to its small size, residential model, and liberal arts curriculum,” wrote the editors of Money in the profile that accompanied TCNJ’s inclusion on the list. “That may be by design, as the college aims to keep talented New Jersey students in their home state in a region dense with higher ed options.”
“The Money rankings weigh three crucial factors: quality, affordability, and outcomes,” said TCNJ President Kathryn A. Foster. “Now more than ever, that combination is driving the college decision-making process for so many students and their families. At TCNJ, students can expect that their education and outcomes are on par with the nation’s very best private colleges, but without the price tag.”
Money’s rankings include only U.S. colleges that have sufficient reliable data to be analyzed. To make the list, a college’s graduation rate must be at or above the median for its institutional category (public, private, or HBCU). Or they must fall in the top 25 percent of the publication’s “value-added” graduation analysis — in other words, they must have unusually high graduation rates compared with schools that serve students with similar test scores and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Money evaluated 623 schools, which were then ranked based on 24 factors in the categories of quality of education, affordability, and outcomes. The outcomes ranking was primarily based on earnings and employment data reported in the federal College Scorecard but this year also includes a return on investment measure from the Bipartisan Policy Center and an economic mobility measure from Third Way.
Source: TCNJ