College rankings When it comes to bang for your buck, this survey says Newark is the place to be in New Jersey

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We always love it when there are college rankings based on financial value, return on investment or the ability to land a job — hopefully a well-paying one.Or how about this: How much a college does for the community.

So we were thrilled to see the “Best Bang for the Buck” survey done recently by Washington Monthly. Its stated goal is to identify the most “public-minded” institutions.

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Here how they describe it:

“To identify the most public-minded institutions, we rank every four-year college and university in America based on three criteria: social mobility, research, and public service. Instead of crediting colleges that reject the most applicants, we recognize those that do the best job of enrolling and graduating low-income students. Our rankings measure both pure research spending and success in preparing undergraduates to earn Ph.Ds. And by giving equal weight to public service, we identify colleges that build a sense of obligation to their communities and the nation at large.”

When we saw the University of Florida (bolstered by tuition of less than $7,500) at No. 1, we knew we were going to get some different schools.

Except in Jersey.

The top schools on the U.S. News & World Report rankings are on this list as well, telling us that the state not only has plenty of good schools, but offers them at a good value while serving the public good.

Here’s the surprising order:

Rutgers-Newark checks in as the top school in the state on the Bang for the Buck rankings, coming in at No. 14 overall.

Newark took the second spot, too, as NJIT was placed at No. 44.

Rutgers-New Brunswick followed at No. 55, followed by Stevens at No. 76 and Seton Hall at No. 77.

The one notable exception: Princeton.

That’s right, the school ranked No. 1 by U.S. News didn’t make this list (which ran to No. 81).  Neither did six other Ivy League schools. Only Columbia (at No. 10) made the cut.

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