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New Jersey City University Recognized as Top Public School and Leader in Social Mobility in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2025
JERSEY CITY, N.J. | New Jersey City University (NJCU) has long been recognized as a regional and national leader in the life changing metric of social mobility, and NJCU’s transformative role in this area has been affirmed once again. NJCU has been recognized as a Top Public School and a Top Performer on Social Mobility in the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2025 rankings announced today.
NJCU ranks tied for No. 55 among Top Public Universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report and tied for No. 82 in Top Performers on Social Mobility in the 2025 listings.
NJCU’s recognition as one of the top public colleges improving students’ upward economic mobility — a long-time tenet of NJCU’s mission and its vital role in the State of New Jersey — demonstrates the great return on investment its graduates achieve. In fact, NJCU was ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and Top 10 in the nation in the CollegeNET Social Mobility Index for 2023.
The university serves the most socioeconomically diverse student population with the median household annual income of the students standing at $42,200 — the lowest of New Jersey’s four-year public colleges by a considerable margin, and 54 percent of the university’s students are first generation college students. However, 10 years after graduation, students earn 22% more than the national average income.
According to U.S. News & World Report, economically disadvantaged students are less likely than others to finish college, even when controlling for their achievement in high school. But some colleges are more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants. The vast majority of these federal grants are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are under $50,000. The rankings measure how well institutions graduate students with exceptional financial need.
At NJCU, 57.6 percent of its students received federal Pell Grant funding in the latest available data — the highest of any four-year public college or university in the state. As one of the most affordable public four-year colleges in the state and the most transfer-friendly public school in the state, NJCU is committed to making college accessible.
In the Top Public Schools category, rankings are calculated based on statistics surrounding ample classroom resources for students and faculty, conferred bachelor's degrees at high rates, and graduates who entered the workforce with manageable debt and worthwhile starting salaries.
U.S. News ranked nearly 1,500 U.S. four-year bachelor's degree-granting institutions, grouped within 10 distinct overall rankings where colleges and universities were compared with schools that shared their academic mission — national universities, national liberal arts colleges, regional universities and regional colleges and then subdivided based on geographical location: North, South, Midwest and West. Qualifying Regional Universities are those offering undergraduate and master’s degrees, but few doctoral programs. The North region includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
About NJCU:
New Jersey City University is a comprehensive public regional institution of higher learning located in Jersey City, N.J., dedicated to the development of our students, our city, our communities, and our state. We are a game-changing force for our students and have been recognized as one of the top colleges in the nation improving their upward economic mobility. In fact, NJCU has been ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and Top 10 in the nation in the CollegeNET Social Mobility Index for 2023. Whether enrolled in one of our undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral programs at our three locations, NJCU students have access to an affordable, diverse environment, and an exceptionally supportive faculty. This prepares them to go on to become the next generation of workers and leaders who improve their communities and the State of New Jersey.
Contact:
Ira Thor, Associate Vice President for University Communications and Marketing | ithor@njcu.edu | 201-200-3301