Princeton continues run atop US News college rankings

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For the 11th consecutive year, Princeton University claimed the top ranking in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings, the 2022 version of which was released on Sept. 13.

Columbia University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, in that order, round out the top five.

Two other New Jersey schools made the top 100 on the National Universities list: Rutgers University-New Brunswick came in at No. 63, the same spot as last year; and Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken was ranked at No. 83, down three slots. The New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark just missed, coming in at No. 103

U.S. News, which has been publishing the rankings for 37 years, evaluates more than 1,400 colleges and universities on up to 17 measures of academic quality.

“Students and faculty continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it’s through remote learning, mask-wearing or vaccine requirements,” said Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News. “As communities work through these challenges, U.S. News is committed to providing information on the academic quality of institutions across the country, so prospective students and their families can make informed decisions throughout their college search.”

New Jersey schools figure prominently in several categories. Among regional universities in the north, The College of New Jersey in Ewing came in at No. 6, down one spot from last year. Monmouth University in Long Branch and Rider University in Lawrence Township both cracked the top 30, placing at Nos.18 and 27, respectively.

The top school in the north was Providence College.

Among the best schools for social mobility, Rutgers University-Newark came in at No. 3; Rutgers-Camden took the No. 18 slot. Montclair State University fell just short of the top 25, placing at No. 26.

The best school for social mobility was the University of California-Riverside.

In a new category for 2022, U.S. News evaluated undergraduate nursing programs. The Rutgers University School of Nursing was ranked 31st on that list and Seton Hall came in at 76. The University of Pennsylvania earned the top spot.

Among undergraduate engineering programs, Princeton came in at No. 12 and Rutgers-New Brunswick made the top 50 at No. 45. MIT topped the engineering list. Rutgers-New Brunswick ranked 64th for undergraduate business, a list also topped by Penn.