College of New Jersey Suddenly "Hot"
Posted on June 7th, 2005
(Source: College of New Jersey)So the New York Times profiles New Jersey's "hot" college. Princeton? Nope. Try the College of New Jersey, a public school enrolling 6,000 undergrads on its stately Ewing Township campus.
The College combines good academics with a beautiful setting at a bargain price. In-state students pay $8,200 (out-of-staters add another $4,000). U.S. News ranks it as the top public institution in the Northeast region, and Barron's classifies it among the 70 "most competitive" colleges in the country. Not bad for a school that began life with the unfortunate moniker of Trenton State College.
In fact, the name change caused a bit of in-state angst. Princeton objected because it was originally called the College of New Jersey, a name it held for 150 years before becoming a university in 1896. Evidently the Princeton purists felt their school had sole rights to that name and wanted to avoid confusion. Looks like they lost that battle, or at least conceded.
In any case, the "new" College of New Jersey may not yet be Princeton, but it's pretty good, and a decent value to boot.
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