The College
of New Jersey
Public College in Ewing, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 86%. Median 10-year earnings $73,323.
Students who entered The College of New Jersey reach a median of $73,323 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 86% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 86% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
The College of New Jersey accepts 62% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool is large — 12,766 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 20% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 39% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 570–670 | 613 (39%) |
| SAT Math | 570–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–31 | 47 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at The College of New Jersey →Academics
86% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 91%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. 7,073 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,855 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $25,580 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $7,908 while those at $110k+ pay $35,222. Grant aid reaches 55% of students at an average of $12,032. Federal borrowing reaches 49% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,544 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $7,908 |
| $30–48k | $14,028 |
| $48–75k | $22,642 |
| $75–110k | $30,942 |
| $110k+ | $35,222 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,364 of these 6,855 students, totalling $21,133,287 — an average of $6,282 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Mercer County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)