Hoboken High School In Top Half Of New U.S. News Rankings

HOBOKEN, NJ — New high school rankings from U.S. News and World Report have put Hoboken High School in the top half of 445 New Jersey public high schools. The school was also in the top 10 percent of schools for high graduation rates.

The top schools in state and national lists often are magnet or specialized county high schools that take only the top-performing students, and this year's lists are no exception. In fact, the first 11 schools on the U.S. News list are magnet and county high schools.

Statewide, U.S. News ranked Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies in Edison as the top school.

Some have criticized such lists as only reflecting socioeconomic factors, since well-off students may have access to more educational help and better funded districts. U.S. News said in a release that the 2022 ranking is intended to show how well the nation’s public schools serve all students by teaching them basic skills and preparing them for college-level work.

This year’s schools were ranked on six measures: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment performance, state assessment proficiency, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, underserved student performance and graduation rates.

The data used in this year’s ranking is from the 2019-20 academic school year, which was impacted by COVID in the last few months. Since many schools suspended their standardized testing, U.S. News considered previous years.

Nationwide, the following New Jersey public high schools appeared in the top 100:

• Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies, Edison. Ranked 23.
• Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains: Ranked 49.
• Bergen County Academies, Hackensack: Ranked 61.
• High Technology High School, Lincroft: Ranked 65.
• Dr. Ronald E McNair High School, Jersey City: Ranked 68 (5 in the state).
• Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health, Woodbridge: Ranked 69.
• Biotechnology High School, Freehold: Ranked 80.
• Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro: Ranked 93.

Hoboken came in at 239 statewide, with U.S. News noting its 99 percent graduation rate. It was #47 statewide for graduation rate. See the list here.

In terms of non-magnet public high schools in New Jersey, the top were: Glen Ridge High School, 12 in NJ and 244 nationally; Elizabeth High, 13 and 262 nationally; West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, 14 and 293; West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 15 and 339, Summit, 16 and 363, Millburn, 18 and 418; Livingston, 19, and Chatham High, 20.

High Tech High School, the countywide magnet school based in North Bergen, came in at 66 statewide.

McNair Academic, a Jersey City magnet school, was ranked in the top
100 in the country. According to the Jersey City school board, in 2017, 240 students were accepted to McNair out of about 1,000 applications, resulting in an acceptance rate of 24 percent.

Read more about the Best High Schools methodology.

In addition to the national rankings, U.S. News also published rankings at the metro area and school district levels. Only metro areas and school districts with three or more high schools were included in these subrankings.

Want to catch up quickly? Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Hoboken Patch newsletters and alerts.