New Jersey has the best education system in the nation, according to a newly-released ranking by U.S. News and World Report.
The annual ranking judges states on K-12 test scores, colleges, graduation rates, student debt and more. Last year, New Jersey ranked No. 4 in the nation for overall education.
This year, New Jersey secured the top spot by scoring near the top in nearly every category for K-12 schools and preschools.
“This is a much-deserved recognition of the entire New Jersey school community – thank you to all the educators and school leaders for the work you do day-in-day-out to make achievements like this possible,” said Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer.
New Jersey “ranked in the top 5 in every single pre-K-12 metric, and ranked #1 in SAT/ACT pass rate and preschool enrollment rate,” said Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, U.S. News’ senior data editor.
Florida was No. 2 in the overall education ranking, scoring highly in the higher education subcategory because of its low tuition and high college graduation rate. (See the full U.S. News top 10 list below.)
Gov. Phil Murphy said he was “thrilled” the state’s education system was recognized.
“Our schools consistently rank among the top in the nation because we have made it a priority to invest in our best-in-the-nation public education system and ensure our students can achieve long-term success,” Murphy said in a statement.
“We know that a robust public education system plays a critical role in empowering the next generation of leaders and making our state the best place to start and raise a family,” he added.
U.S. News has been ranking states on a number of measures since 2017. The system evaluates states across several categories, including healthcare, opportunity, infrastructure, crime and corrections, fiscal stability, natural environment and the economy.
In the overall best state ranking that considered every category, New Jersey came in No. 19. Utah was ranked the best overall state, followed by New Hampshire, Idaho, Minnesota and Nebraska.
New Jersey also ranked in the top 10 in the healthcare, and crime and corrections categories
However, New Jersey struggled in other areas — including the opportunity and fiscal stability categories — ranking almost at the bottom of the 50 states.
U.S. News says state rankings point to “which state policies are working and which can be improved, and encourages citizens to interact more with their governments to promote positive change.”
While New Jersey’s overall education system ranked highly in the U.S. News metrics, families looking to move to a state should look closely at the school districts where they want to live, said Chris Tienken, associate professor of education leadership, management and policy at Seton Hall University.
Many of the measures used in the rankings, including SAT scores, offer an imprecise and overly generalized picture, he said.
“We know the SAT isn’t based on a high school curriculum,” he said. “So the SAT as an indicator of good teaching or good learning isn’t really a valid indicator.”
Despite claiming the top three spots for pre-K-12 education, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut all fall in the bottom half of the rankings for higher education.
They lost significant ground due to college affordability issues, with steep tuition costs and substantial student debt burdens after graduation, according to the rankings.
New Jersey ranked 36th in higher education in this year’s ranking, yet secured the top spot for overall education partly because of the state’s high scores in all of the pre-K measures.
“Interestingly, it‘s the inverse of the #2 state, Florida, which is top-ranked for higher education but more middling in pre-K-12,” said Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilenskly, U.S. News’ senior data editor.
U.S. News & World Report 2025 ranking of states with the best overall education systems
- New Jersey
- Florida
- Colorado
- Utah
- Massachusetts
- Wyoming
- Wisconsin
- South Dakota
- Washington
- Connecticut
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Liz Rosenberg may be reached at lrosenberg@njadvancemedia.com.