TCNJ tops U.S. News List of Best Colleges for the 18th consecutive year; ranked highly for its commitment to undergrads

EWING, NJ…The College of New Jersey once again is the top public college in U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Universities-Master’s category for the northern region of the country. Moving up in rank from last year, the 2010 edition ranks the College as the number one public and fifth overall school in the […]

Words by TCNJ's editorial staff

EWING, NJ…The College of New Jersey once again is the top public college in U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Universities-Master’s category for the northern region of the country. Moving up in rank from last year, the 2010 edition ranks the College as the number one public and fifth overall school in the standings among both public and private institutions in the Best Universities-Master’s category for the north.

In addition to keeping its place on the U.S. News list of Top Up-and-Coming Schools for the second consecutive year, TCNJ has also secured a place on a new list of 80 institutions singled out most often as a school where the faculty has an unusual commitment to teaching undergraduates. TCNJ is the top public college in its regional ranking on this list.

TCNJ remains the only New Jersey school – public or private – on the list of 77 Top Up-and-Coming Schools according to peer assessments of recent striking improvements or innovations.

TCNJ President R. Barbara Gitenstein said: “The College of New Jersey has maintained a consistent place at the top of the U.S. News rankings for many years, but the recognition of TCNJ’s focus on the undergraduate experience is particularly noteworthy this year. The core of our mission is to be a leader in undergraduate public education. By developing innovative programs that enhance undergraduate research, community engagement, and depth of learning, we are continuously improving the experience provided to our students.”

According to U.S. News, the 572 schools that make up the universities-master’s category offer a full range of undergraduate degree programs and some master’s degree programs, but few, if any, doctoral programs. TCNJ ties with Villanova University for the highest average freshman retention rate, 95 percent, and the second highest graduation rate, 84 percent, among schools in the northern region. The College also has the highest percentage (90 percent, a three percent increase from 2009) in the region of incoming freshmen that ranked in the top 25 percent of their high school class.

U.S. News categorizes SAT scores based on the percent of students scoring in the middle 50th percentile, where TCNJ is second within the region only to Villanova University.

The College has ranked as the best public college in its region in the U.S. News survey since 1993.

The rankings, which were posted on usnews.com on Thursday, August 20 at 12:01 A.M, use seven indicators to capture academic quality. The most heavily weighted indicators are assessment of a school’s academic quality by administrators at peer institutions and retention rate. A complete list of the 2009 rankings as well as the methodology can be found on the U.S. News and World Report Web site at www.usnews.com.