By Nicole DeStefano
Staff Writer
In a study conducted by Business First, a Buffalo-based publication owned by American City Business Journals Inc, the College was placed 32nd out of 499 four-year public institutions across the country. The study was designed to distinguish which public universities and colleges offer their students the best educational experiences. The study focused on public institutions because they generally offer the least expensive tuitions.
Selective admissions processes, earnings by alumni, strong retention and graduation rates, resources, reasonable tuition and housing costs and diverse faculties and student bodies were all factors that affected each score.
Business First calculated rates and percentages of raw data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the five-year version of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey.
The College took a 10-spot leap from its 42nd ranking last year, totaling 70.319 ranking points to land it in 32nd. It also placed as second among the 12 New Jersey institutions included in the rankings, just falling behind No. 25: Rutgers University.
“I am always gratified when I see that TCNJ and/or TCNJ programs are recognized for quality and performance by third parties,” College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said.
Despite this, Gitenstein does not think of school improvement in numbers, but rather people.
“Frankly, I do not purposely seek to improve rankings for TCNJ — I seek to improve performance and student success,” Gitenstein said. “Usually that leads to improvement in values rankings.”
Getting into the College is not a simple task for a high school senior. The College boasts a competitive admission rate of 48.7 percent, admitting only 5,495 out of the 11,290 applicants in 2015, according to Business First.
Not only are potential students excited to become a part of the College community, but once they begin their college career, most do not want to leave. The College has an impressive retention rate — in 2014, the retention rate was 94.8 percent. Out of 1,414 new undergraduates, only 74 did not return.
“One of the features that suggests institutional success is retention rate,” Gitenstein said. “When a student returns to a campus for sophomore year, it indicates usually that the student has been successful academically and developmentally and that the admission process was a thoughtful one — assuring a good match between student and institution.”
The College also guides students on the right path to graduate on time. Of the 1,283 undergraduates that entered the College in 2009, 918 graduated within four years — a rate of 71.6 percent. For those graduating with a bachelor’s degree within six years, the rate was 84.06 percent.
Once in the work force, alumni with annual earnings above $25,000 (six years after entering school) is 79.5 percent. The median annual earning for alumni after 10 years of entering school is $56,000.
Not only does the College offer students a great education, it also offers a great price. For the 2015-16 school year, the published in-state tuition and fees came to $15,466, book and supplies to $1,200 and on-campus room and board to $12,498. The average net price for undergraduates on a scholarship came to $20,146. In return, the College averages $13,860 per full-time undergraduate student for instructional spending.
It’s no surprise that many New Jersey residents are drawn to the selective institution. In 2015, 92.6 percent of new undergraduate students were from the College’s home state. While that may seem like an overwhelming number, students feel that it provides a more tight-knit community and sense of home.
“I think over the past four years at TCNJ, this has been very beneficial to me,” said Stephanie Zarra, a senior nursing major. “Every time I go home for winter break and summer break, I was easily able to meet up with friends because we all live so close to each other. Graduating this May, I know that it’ll be very easy to maintain college friendships because of how easily we can see each other.”
Gitenstein hopes the College’s reputation will be recognized across the nation.
“The fact that TCNJ continues to be so attractive to N.J. students is wonderful, but I would hope that over the years we would continue to grow our out-of-state student population,” Gitenstein said. “The most important reason for doing so is that by increasing out-of-state enrollment, we continue to grow the diversity of our population — in background and in perspective. In addition, of course, by increasing our recognition out of the state, we enhance our institutional reputation.”
Gitenstein believes the College has the means to accomplish this already.
“TCNJ is a wonderful combination of academic program, challenging leadership opportunities and competitive (Division III) athletics,” Gitenstein said. “We have impressive facilities and extraordinary faculty. The type of faculty and staff who gravitate to TCNJ are the type of mentors who help our students develop as young professionals prepared to enter competitive graduate schools and/or the work force.”
