By Briana Keenan
Staff Writer
The College was named the top public college in the “Best Regional Cities — North” category and fourth overall in the “Regional Universities — North” category in the 2024 Best Colleges rankings released by the U.S. News & World Report on Sept. 18.
According to a post by @tcnj_official on Instagram, the College has been ranked first in the “Best Regional Cities — North” category since 1991. It was also ranked first in the state for Undergraduate Teaching Programs and Undergraduate Engineering Programs without doctorates.
“When I found out that TCNJ was ranked as one of the best public colleges in the nation for 2024, I felt a sense of comfort,” said Sarah Laubsch, a freshman civil engineering major. “It’s reassuring to know that the college I chose is ranked as one of the best in the nation…as a civil engineering major, I couldn’t be prouder.”
Some other rankings the College received include first in the region for best college for veterans and tied for third in the region for freshman retention rate and six-year graduation rate.
“I feel like the ranking solidifies how good the school is,” said Vanessa Abdala, a freshman English major. “It’s a very welcoming and supportive environment, so it doing well and being ranked the best makes me feel pretty good about the school.”
The rankings were determined after evaluating approximately 1,500 schools that offer bachelor’s degrees, according to the U.S. News & World Report. In addition to self-reported and third-party reported statistics per individual campus, the evaluators look at qualities such as campus culture, financial aid offered and strength in specific majors.
Ranking criteria included aspects such as graduation rates, peer assessment and first-year retention rates. Lisa Angeloni, vice president for enrollment management, expressed pride in the rankings.
"We pride ourselves on our exceptional retention rate, which speaks to our supportive community, and our on-time graduation rate, which helps keep costs down for families,” Angeloni said. “These are some of the factors that have helped us maintain our ranking as the top public college in our region for over 30 years."
