Colleges That Attract Central New Jersey Students

New Jersey has long been known for its “brain drain,” as more than half of its college bound students typically head out-of-state for their higher education.  But just where do they go? 

There are certain colleges that are long-standing favorites, according to data of recent graduates from Montgomery, Princeton, Hillsborough, and Bridgewater-Raritan high schools.  All of these schools had graduates headed to Massachusetts to attend Northeastern University and University of Massachusetts – Amherst and moving to New York to settle in at Syracuse University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and New York University (NYU).

 

Students from each of these central NJ high schools headed south to attend the University of Maryland – College Park and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, American, George Washington, and Georgetown universities in Washington D.C., Virginia Tech in Virginia, and Georgia Tech and Emory universities in Georgia.

Some of these recent high school graduates decided to attend college in Pennsylvania, choosing the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Penn State, Villanova, Temple, or Drexel University.

 

Those who spread their wings a bit further sometimes chose University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University – Bloomington, Purdue University, University of Colorado – Boulder, or University of Wisconsin – Madison.

 

Other out-of-state colleges popular with Central New Jersey graduates include University of Vermont, Fairfield University in Connecticut, University of Delaware, University of South Carolina, University of Tampa, University of Texas – Austin, Ohio State University and both Boston College and Boston University.

 

Of those students who chose to remain in the Garden State, many selected a public four-year college/university, benefitting from the reduced in-state tuition. Students from Montgomery, Princeton, Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan are all represented at Rutgers University, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Rowan University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Montclair State University, and Kean University. In addition, these four Central New Jersey high schools all sent students to Princeton University and Stevens Institute of Technology. 

In all, Central New Jersey students are spread out among more than 200 college campuses across the country, and even some foreign countries including Spain, Italy, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, and Canada. The options for local students are truly boundless.    

Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT^® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362.