National Recognition For Princeton University, Princeton High School

PRINCETON, NJ — Two educational institutions in Princeton have been recognized nationally. Princeton High School is ranked No. 6 in New Jersey and No. 155 nationally on U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 list of best public high schools, released on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Princeton University was one of two New Jersey universities that scored among the highest on PayScale’s 2017 College ROI Report: Best Value Colleges list, which focuses on a 20-year net return on investment.

The 2017 rankings of best high schools identify the top-performing public schools at both the national and the state level and include data on more than 20,000 high schools. To be considered among the best, high schools had to pass a rigorous four-step process that sought to determine whether a school was serving all of its students and not just those who are college bound.

Here are those steps:

• The first step determined whether students at a particular school were performing better than statistically expected for students in that state, factoring in percentages of economically disadvantaged students to identify schools.
• Schools that passed this step then moved on to step two, which assessed whether disadvantaged students performed at or better than state averages for the least-advantaged students.
• For the next two steps, U.S. News looked at graduation rates and college readiness performance. To pass step three, high schools had to have a graduation rate of 75 percent or greater. For the 2017 rankings, the graduation rate reflect students who entered the ninth grade in the 2011-2012 school year.
• Finally, U.S. News calculated a college readiness index, which was the number of 12th graders who took and passed at least one AP test, divided by the number of 12th graders at that school. To be ranked numerically nationally, schools had to pass steps 1-3 and have a college readiness index of 20.91 or above.

The state rankings were based on whether a high school received a gold, silver or a bronze medal and had a CRI value of 10 or higher. Previously, only gold and silver medal winners were ranked numerically on the state level.

Princeton High School scored 79 percent as far as those who took at least one AP Test, and had 93 percent passing rate. Its College Readiness Index was 74.4 percent. Its English Proficiency was 67 percent, and its Mathematics Proficiency was 53 percent.

High Technology High School topped the list for state schools, and was ranked 16th nationally.

To see where New Jersey high schools ranked, click here.

Princeton University was at No. 15 overall in America on Payscale’s list, and was No. 2 in New Jersey, offering a 20-year net ROI of $764,000.

The list factors in financial aid and in-state versus out-of-state tuition, graduation rates and ability to pay off loans.

To see where New Jersey universities ranked, click here.

Patch file photo