N.J. university named No. 3 nationally for return on investment seven make Top 200

A ranking of colleges you can expect see a return on investment from 20 years after graduation named seven New Jersey schools in the Top 200, with Stevens Institute of Technology reaching an unprecedented No. 3 overall on the list.

The list was put together by Payscale, the creators of the largest salary database in the world. It gauges colleges by the 20-year ROI of each compared to its total cost, which includes room and board, books and supplies, in addition to tuition.

Many of New Jersey’s best bets for an return on investment performed significantly better than they did on Payscale’s measure last year: Princeton (No. 9 this year, No. 13 last), New Jersey Institute of Technology (26, 42),and Rutgers University, New Brunswick (91, 125).

And then there’s Stevens Institute of Technology, which went from being No. 5 to two spots even higher on the national list (No. 3). According to the Payscale website, the school’s graduates typically earn a $65,300 early career salary.

Edward Stukane, vice president of communications and marketing at Stevens, said a majority of the college’s students get job offers as seniors, and many are weighing two or more prospects.

“These companies have learned that when (they hire our graduates) they get employees who are ready to contribute day one,” he said. “There were 350 companies that came to our campus last year to meet with our graduating class, and more than 1,000 companies recruited last year’s graduates. That shows a real demand.

“And that’s across the board, not just engineering; demand for our business school and our college of arts and letters students continues to grow as well.”

The $841,000 20-year ROI of the school places Stevens higher on the list than Stanford (No. 6).

Some of those more renowned institutions were lower on the ROI scale. Harvard received a No. 34 ranking, which places it below at least three New Jersey colleges. Columbia University appears at No. 57 with the second highest cost of attending the college ($241,600).

Yale was also notably lower than expected at No. 60, but it was a list-topper by a measure of the highest graduation rate (98 percent) out of all colleges. Princeton was two below it at 97 percent.

Here’s the list of New Jersey higher education institutions (and the 20-year ROI) within the Top 200:

No. 3: Stevens Institute of Technology
20-year ROI: $841,000
4-year cost: $232,000

No. 9: Princeton University
20-year ROI: $795,700
4-year cost: $217,300

No. 26: New Jersey Institute of Technology (in-state tuition)
20-year ROI: $680,800
4-year cost: $122,200

No. 36: New Jersey Institute of Technology (out-of-state)
20-year ROI: $633,500
4-year cost $169,500

No. 41: Rutgers University – Newark Campus (in-state)
20-year ROI: $617,900
4-year cost: $115,100

No. 61:  Rutgers University – Newark Campus (out-of-state)
20-year ROI: $566,400
4-year cost: $166,600

No. 91:  Rutgers University – New Brunswick Campus (in-state)
20-year ROI: $518,800
4-year cost: $114,200

No. 123: The College of New Jersey (in-state)
20-year ROI: $478,800
4-year cost: $114,200

No. 132: Rutgers University – New Brunswick Campus (out-of-state)
20-year ROI: $467,300
4-year cost: $165,700

No. 134: Seton Hall University – South Orange
20-year ROI: $467,000
4-year cost: $196,000

No. 168: The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) (out-of-state)
20-year ROI: $439,100
4-year cost: $153,900

The Top 5 schools on the list:

No. 5. Babson College (private)
20-year ROI: $812,800
4-year cost: $230,200

4. Colorado School of Mines (in-state)
20-year ROI: $831,000
4-year cost: $112,000

3. Stevens Institute of Technology (private)
20-year ROI: $841,000
4-year cost: $232,000

2. California Institute of Technology (private)
20-year ROI: $901,400
4-year cost: $221,600

1. Harvey Mudd College (private)
20-year ROI: $985,300
4-year cost: $237,700

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