Read a recent article detailing New Jersey’s highest-ranked high schools. Nine of the top 10 are county vocational-technical schools. All county vocational-technical schools on the list below are bolded.
The U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation’s public high schools came out Tuesday, placing New Jersey’s high schools third, behind Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Thirty-seven New Jersey schools ranked among the top 5% nationally.
“The rankings evaluate nearly 18,000 public high schools at the national, state, and local level,” said Liana Loewus, managing editor of education at U.S. News. “Making data on our high schools available helps parents ensure their child is in the educational environment that best sets them up to thrive.”
Schools were ranked based on student scores on state assessments for math, reading, and science, performance by underserved students, college readiness and curriculum breadth, as well as graduation rates.
Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies was rated the top public high school in New Jersey and No. 23 in the United States.
State rankings are based on the proportion of their high schools in the top 25% nationally. Massachusetts had 47.1% of its high schools in the top quarter, Connecticut had 43.9%, and New Jersey had 42.9%.
Last year, only 29 New Jersey schools ranked in the top 5%. The year before, 39 ranked in the top 10%, while this year, 82 did.
Two New Jersey schools appeared among the top five best STEM high schools, focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math: High Technology High School in Lincroft ranked first, and the Academy for Mathematics Science and Engineering in Rockaway ranked third.
These high schools ranked in the top 5% nationally:
37. Northern Highlands Regional High School
Location: Allendale
National Rank: 942
36. Glen Rock High School
Location: Glen Rock
National Rank: 939
35. Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
Location: Old Tappan
National Rank: 815
34. Madison High School
Location: Madison
National Rank: 797
33. Communications High School
Location: Wall
National Rank: 735
32. Central Jersey Prep Charter School
Location: Somerset
National Rank: 709
31. Haddonfield Memorial High School
Location: Haddonfield
National Rank: 708
30. Union County Tech
Location: Scotch Plains
National Rank: 672
29. John P. Stevens High School
Location: Edison
National Rank: 650
28. Ridgewood High School
Location: Ridgewood
National Rank: 644
27. Science Park High School
Location: Newark
National Rank: 605
26. Tenafly High School
Location: Tenafly
National Rank: 593
25. Montgomery High School
Location: Skillman
National Rank: 592
24. Mountain Lakes High School
Location: Mountain Lakes
National Rank: 577
23. Ridge High School
Location: Basking Ridge
National Rank: 515
22. Princeton High School
Location: Princeton
National Rank: 490
21. Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest
Location: Demarest
National Rank: 464
20. Chatham High School
Location: Chatham
National Rank: 458
19. Livingston High School
Location: Livingston
#438 in National Rankings
18. Millburn High School
Location: Millburn
National Rank: 418
17. Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science
Location: Neptune
National Rank: 377
16. Summit Senior High School
Location: Summit
National Rank: 363
15. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Location: West Windsor
National Rank: 339
14. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Location: Plainsboro
National Rank: 293
13. Elizabeth High School
Location: Elizabeth
National Rank: 262
12. Glen Ridge High School
Location: Glen Ridge
National Rank: 244
11. Marine Academy of Science and Technology
Location: Highlands
National Rank: 165
10. Academy for Allied Health Sciences
Location: Scotch Plains
National Rank: 146
9. Academy for Information Technology
Location: Scotch Plains
National Rank: 116
8. Bergen County Technical High School – Teterboro
Location: Teterboro
National Rank: 93
7. Biotechnology High School
Location: Freehold
National Rank: 80
6. Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health
Location: Woodbridge
National Rank: 69
5. Dr. Ronald E McNair High School
Location: Jersey City
National Rank: 68
4. High Technology High School
Location: Lincroft
National Rank: 65
3. Bergen County Academies
Location: Hackensack
National Rank: 61
2. Union County Magnet High School
Location: Scotch Plains
National Rank: 49
1. Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Technologies
Location: Edison
National Rank: 23
Read the story as it originally appeared Aug. 29, 2023 on NJ.com, and the rankings through U.S. News & World Report.
