4 NJ schools just cracked TIME’s top 100 in the nation

New Jersey has plenty of things we suck at.

Driving safely. Paying reasonable property taxes. Keeping our mouths shut and our thoughts to ourselves. We duck at all those things.

You know what we're great at? Education.

When it comes to colleges, Jersey has some serious bragging rights.

TIME magazine has released its first-ever ranking of America’s Best Colleges, and as reported on nj.com four New Jersey schools managed to crack the top 100 nationwide.

And no, I don’t think anyone is going to be shocked by the school sitting at the very top of the New Jersey list.

William Thomas Cain, Getty Images

No. 4: Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton is the big one. The Ivy League school came in No. 4 in the entire country, with an overall score of 93.50.

TIME gave Princeton particularly strong marks for student outcomes and attractiveness. In other words, students who get into Princeton tend to do pretty darn well afterward and, shockingly, a whole lot of people want to go there.

Not exactly breaking news, but it’s still pretty cool to see a New Jersey school sitting at No. 4 nationally. So what if it seems like a given?

Mario Tama, Getty Images

No. 30: Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology

Here’s where things get particularly interesting.

Stevens, sitting on the Hudson River in Hoboken, came in No. 30 nationally.

The technology-focused university scored an impressive 85.17 overall. TIME's ranking puts a heavy emphasis on what students actually get out of their education, including career outcomes, and Stevens has built quite a reputation around technology, engineering and getting its graduates ready for the real world.

And being No. 30 out of 500 isn’t exactly something to sneeze at.

NJIT (Google Maps)

No. 95: New Jersey Institute of Technology

New Jersey Institute of Technology

NJIT in Newark also made the top 100, landing at No. 95 with an overall score of 78.29.

It’s another school that fits particularly well with Time’s emphasis on STEM education and career outcomes. NJIT has long been known for engineering, technology, architecture, computing and other fields that can lead directly into some pretty lucrative careers.

So yes, Newark made the list, too.

The College of New Jersey

No. 99: The College of New Jersey

The College of New Jersey

And sneaking into the top 100 at No. 99 is The College of New Jersey in Ewing. It's one of the schools where my son was accepted and the one I wanted him to choose. Instead, he went out of state and that's the last I saw of my money. But I digress.

TCNJ scored 77.80 overall and was particularly strong when it came to student outcomes. In fact, student outcomes accounted for 75% of TIME's overall score, making that number especially significant.

So there you have it.

Four New Jersey schools in America’s top 100. As Larry David would say, pretty, pretty, pretty good!

And 17 New Jersey colleges and universities made TIME's overall list of 500.

So yeah, we don't suck at everything.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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