Bloomberg Cites NJIT as Best Investment of New Jersey Public Colleges

New Jersey Institute of Technology has the best return-on-investment of any public college in the state, at just under a quarter-million dollars within a decade of graduation, an analysis by Bloomberg News found.

Bloomberg placed NJIT second among all Garden State colleges, behind only Princeton University, in its conclusions of the cost of attendance compared to your income by mid-career.

Bloomberg’s research evaluated more than 1,500 four-year colleges in the United States. For NJIT, they cited 10-year ROI of $223,000, median earnings of $80,043, cost of attendance at $31,511 and acceptance rate of 66%.

Such numbers represent a trend of top public schools often being a better investment for students than top private schools. In many cases, “Return on investment at many elite private institutions outside the eight Ivies is no better than far-less selective public universities,” Bloomberg stated. “In fact, the typical 10-year return on investment of the so-called ‘Hidden Ivies’ — a list of 63 top private colleges — is about 49% less than the official Ivies and 9% less than states’ most prominent universities.”

In addition, “It depends on the degree and what a graduate does with it. Technical majors such as computer science, engineering or mathematics can serve as a direct pathway to a good job early in one’s career, translating to higher earnings right out of college.”

Bloomberg used data from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, originally sourced from College Scorecard.

The high ranking is just the latest for NJIT. The Wall Street Journal rates NJIT No. 19 overall and No. 2 among public universities in the United States. The New York Times build-your-own ranking tool rates NJIT No. 1 among all public universities nationally when you prioritize high alumni earnings, economic mobility, and academic profile. Forbes ranks NJIT the No. 1 public university in New Jersey and No. 28 in the nation, and The Princeton Review ranks NJIT No. 35 nationally as a Best Value College. NJIT is in the top 2% of colleges and universities nationally for the mid-career earnings of graduates, according to PayScale.com, and is a top 50 public institution nationwide, according to U.S. News & World Report.