With the first “early decision” college-application deadline looming on Nov. 1 and colleges adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its 2021’s Best College & University Rankings report, as well as accompanying videos, in addition to separate rankings for colleges and for universities.

To help college-bound seniors choose the best schools within their states, WalletHub compared over 1,000 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 30 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing and Career Outcomes. The data set ranges from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary.

Top 10 Colleges & Universities in New Jersey

With that in mind, here’s a closer look at some of the top schools and how each performed in certain metrics:

School Snapshot: Princeton University (1 = Best; 11 = Average; 21 = Worst):

• 1^st – Admission Rate
• 20^th – Net Cost
• 1^st – Student-Faculty Ratio
• 18^th – On-Campus Crime
• 4^th – Gender & Racial Diversity
• 1^st – Graduation Rate
• 2^nd – Post-Attendance Median Salary

School Snapshot: Stevens Institute of Technology (1 = Best; 11 = Average; 21 = Worst):

• 2^nd – Admission Rate
• 21^st – Net Cost
• 4^th – Student-Faculty Ratio
• 15^th – On-Campus Crime
• 21^st – Gender & Racial Diversity
• 3^rd – Graduation Rate
• 1^st – Post-Attendance Median Salary

School Snapshot: Rutgers University-New Brunswick (1 = Best; 11 = Average; 21 = Worst):

• 4^th – Admission Rate
• 14^th – Net Cost
• 15^th – Student-Faculty Ratio
• 1^st – On-Campus Crime
• 2^nd – Gender & Racial Diversity
• 4^th – Graduation Rate
• 5^th – Post-Attendance Median Salary

To view the full reports, please visit:

Best Colleges & Universities Overall: https://wallethub.com/edu/college-rankings/40750/

Best Colleges: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-colleges-in-the-us-ranking/40748/

Best Universities: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-universities-in-usa-ranking/39704/