By Lucas Vacco
Staff Writer
The College has once again ranked first in top public school rankings among regional public universities in the North and ranked sixth among regional public and private universities by U.S. News & World Report in the 2022 Best Colleges rankings. Since 1991, the College has placed on top among public schools in the region.
The College did not only top public universities in the region, but also achieved high rankings in many competitive categories in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. The College ranked seventh in the Best Undergraduate Teaching category and Most Innovative Schools category among regional universities North. The College also ranked second for Best Colleges for Veterans category in the region.
The average freshman retention rate of the College is 94%, which ranked first in the region. It also ranked fourth among the most freshmen who are in the 25th percentile of their graduating class.
The methodology behind the rankings of the 2022 Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report is a combination of various methods such as conducting interviews with experts from higher education institutions, literature reviews and data from the College. Non-Academic data — which includes social life and athletics--was not factored into the rankings, and only academic data was used.
There are various factors that contribute to the overall rankings of the College such as outcomes, faculty resources and financial resources. The U.S. News overall score for the College is 91 out of 100. The average six-year graduation rate for the college is 86%, compared to 17.6% nationally. In reference to faculty resources, 34.8% of classes at the College have fewer than 20 students and no classes have 50 or more students.
The U.S. News & World Report was not the only reputable source that ranked the College with high standards. It was ranked in the best 387 colleges in the nation by The Princeton Review and ranked the highest for four-year graduation rate by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
To many students, the rankings correspond to their perspective of the school that the College provides a sense of community that creates a supportive environment for students across diverse backgrounds.
Freshman public health major Youstina Hana said the College has earned its spot among top public colleges in the region because of the number of resources available to students.
“TCNJ definitely holds true to the rankings. TCNJ is a very inclusive community for everyone. What stood out to me is how much it feels like a community. From the first time I stepped on campus freshman year, I knew this was the place to be,” Hana said.
Freshman undeclared communications major Gabrielle Smith said the College has a diverse range of organizations and clubs to offer that encourages new students like her to get involved. The College prides itself in its diverse offerings of over 230 organizations and clubs and hosted its annual Student Involvement Fair on Sept. 2 at Lions Field.
“TCNJ has incredibly small class sizes. I also liked the diversity of club options and extracurriculars,” Smith said.
The College has been ranked on top among public colleges in the region and ranked in many reputable categories, proving time after time that students are a priority in its inclusive campus community.
