Graduates at 19 of 28 New Jersey colleges and campuses earn less than three times their median student debt, according to U.S. Department of Education data. Princeton University is the outlier at about 10.7 times.
Princeton University graduates who borrowed for college owe a median $10,320, while former students report median earnings of $110,066 about 10 years after they enrolled, according to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
That works out to about $10.70 in earnings for every $1 of median debt, the highest ratio among 28 New Jersey public and private nonprofit four-year colleges and campuses in the data.
Princeton's financial aid is a likely reason its graduates borrow less, though the Scorecard does not break down why. Princeton expanded its financial aid in August 2025, Patch reported. Families earning $150,000 a year pay nothing to attend, and families earning up to $250,000 pay no tuition. The previous threshold for full aid was $100,000.
The Scorecard lists Princeton's average annual cost at $6,000, compared with $41,000 at Stevens. That figure is the average net price for students who receive federal aid. The debt and earnings figures cover earlier graduating classes, so they do not reflect the change.
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken and the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark are next at about 4.0 to 1 each. Stevens has $108,772 in median earnings against $27,000 in debt, and NJIT has $84,276 against $21,000.
Rutgers University reports the same figures for its New Brunswick, Newark and Camden campuses: $74,479 in median earnings and $21,500 in median debt, or about 3.5 to 1. The College of New Jersey in Ewing is at 3.2 to 1, and Rider University in Lawrenceville is at 2.4 to 1, with $62,208 in earnings and $26,130 in debt.
Every public college in the data reports median debt of $23,250 or less, with New Jersey City University in Jersey City the lowest at $18,500. The private schools, apart from Princeton, range from $20,500 at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City to $27,000 at Stevens and Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
The share of students receiving federal loans varies widely. Rider has the highest among the schools Patch checked at 60 percent, followed by Drew University in Madison at 55 percent. Rutgers-Camden and TCNJ are at 49 percent, Rowan University in Glassboro at 45 percent and Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah at 41 percent.
Rutgers-New Brunswick (36 percent), NJIT (35 percent), Rutgers-Newark and Saint Peter's (33 percent each) have the lowest shares. The Scorecard also lists typical monthly loan payments on a standard 10-year plan, at $109 at Princeton, $228 at Rutgers-Camden and $286 at Stevens.
(Patch calculated the ratio by dividing median earnings by median debt. Average annual cost is the net price for students receiving federal aid, and for public schools it reflects in-state students only. The table does not include Thomas Edison State University, which primarily serves adult learners.)
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