Ranked top New Jersey school for learning environment
August 2026 – Drew University has been named to the inaugural edition of TIME – America’s Best Colleges 2026-27 list.
TIME’s rankings, which feature only 500 schools, hone in on return on investment for students. Accordingly, the publication put student outcomes at the center of their metrics, measuring attributes including graduate earnings and completion rates.
“Unlike legacy rankings that emphasize selectivity or reputation, this methodology isolates each college’s value-added contribution,” reads TIME’s methodology.
Drew ranked first among all New Jersey schools in TIME’s Learning Environment category, one of the list’s three categories. Princeton University ranked first in the other two categories, Student Outcomes and Attractiveness, and second in Learning Environment.
Among New Jersey colleges, Drew ranked first among private liberal arts universities and second among all liberal arts schools.
TIME explained that their first-ever list was designed to offer a meaningful, data-driven perspective on schools, “focusing on what institutions actually deliver for students rather than traditional prestige indicators.”
Earlier this month, Drew was named to The Princeton Review’s Best 392 Colleges list, which includes only 15 percent of the country’s schools and is based on the publication’s survey of schools’ academic programs. Drew has also recently been lauded for its value, making Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges list, getting named a top 100 school by U.S. News & World Report, and being featured on Money Magazine’s best Colleges 2026 list based on value, affordability, and outcomes.
