Accepted Students Day
Sat, March 23
Days
Hours
Minutes
Skip Navigation

University News

Georgian Court Among “Best Bang for the Buck” Colleges and Universities

georgian court fencing

For the second consecutive year, Georgian Court University is ranked as a “Best Bang for the Buck” by editors and researchers at Washington Monthly magazine.

GCU is #21 on the magazine’s list of more than 400 schools in the northeast. The new accolade, which is part of Washington Monthly’s annual College Guide, comes just weeks after Georgian Court was named among Money Magazine’s Top 50 Schools That Add the Most Value.

Best Bang for the Buck

“As policymakers and the public raise questions about the costs of college, the Washington Monthly ranking is another indication that higher education should be viewed as an investment, and that a Georgian Court education is an exceptional value as an investment,” said GCU President Joseph R. Marbach, Ph.D.

Researchers at Washington Monthly considered a range of factors in choosing schools for its “Best Bang for the Buck” list, including student loan default rates; graduation rates; the percentage of students with lower incomes who qualify for federal Pell grants; and the net price to attend the college.

Increasingly, more third-party organizations are expanding their methodology when ranking colleges and universities.

“There is a recognition that rankings based on prestige don’t tell the whole story,” said Robert Kelchen, Ph.D., one of the report’s editors and an assistant professor in Seton Hall University’s Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy. “They do a good job of telling students how much a college has, but not how well a college does for a school that enrolls students similar to them.”

Overall, the “Best Bang for the Buck” editors said the list reflects “colleges that are doing the best job of helping non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.”

Aerial view of GCU.

About Georgian Court University

Georgian Court University is a leading regional university that provides a transformative education, preparing students for ethical leadership and service in the Catholic Mercy tradition. Founded in 1908 and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Georgian Court University is Central and South Jersey’s only Catholic university. The university has a strong liberal arts core and a historic special concern for women.

As a forward-thinking university that supports diversity and academic excellence, GCU is known for expanding possibility for more than 1,900 students of all faiths and backgrounds in 35+ undergraduate majors and 10+ graduate programs. The GCU Lions compete in 15 NCAA Division II sports in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). In 2020, GCU was named a Best Value College by Money.com and a Best Bang for the Buck (Northeast) by Washington Monthly. High student retention and graduation rates make GCU a Top Performer on Social Mobility on U.S. News & World Reports rankings.

The main campus is in Lakewood, New Jersey, on the picturesque former George Jay Gould estate, a National Historic Landmark. Georgian Court, which is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, also serves students through its Center for Professional Studies, and at other locations, including GCU at Brookdale, GCU at Rowan College of South Jersey–Cumberland Campus, and through multiple online degree and certificate programs.

Deposit Deadline Extended to June 1

Georgian Court University has extended the deposit deadline to June 1 in response to the U.S. Department of Education announcement concerning delayed data availability from the revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Click here for more information about the deposit extension.