The College of New Jersey

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. 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 college's outcomes are top-notch, especially for a public school: Nearly 86% of students graduate within six years, which is a full 10% higher than schools with similar student bodies, according to Money's analysis, and places it among the top public colleges in the country. TCNJ has just under 6,600 full-time undergrads, and the average class size is 21 students. Degree programs include art education, interactive multimedia, philosophy, and deaf education. As for campus life, about a third of students are fraternity and sorority members who center their social lives around the Greek system. Nearly all freshmen live in residence halls. Since the school is located in a suburb of Trenton, in the southern part of the state, students also tend to visit Philadelphia or Manhattan for big-city fun. Traveling to either takes roughly an hour.