By Payton Guion | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Jersey has eight colleges ranked among the top schools in the country, according to the 2018 list from U.S. News and World Report, up from seven that made the grade in last year's rankings.

Rowan University is the newcomer of the N.J. schools that made the list, coming in at 171 after not being ranked last year.

In ranking the top national universities, U.S. News considered 311 institutions.

U.S. News considers a variety of factors in its ranking, including graduation rates and freshman-retention rates, along with faculty resources and expert opinions.

“Before taking out student loans or writing a tuition check, families should research graduation and retention rates," said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News. "These are important indicators of how well a school supports its students both academically and financially."

Below are the N.J. colleges that made the cut:

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187. Montclair State University

Location: Montclair

Acceptance rate: 66 percent

Graduation rate: 65 percent

2017 tuition and fees (in-state): $14,102

Last year's ranking: 176

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(Photo courtesy of Rowan University)

171. Rowan University

Location: Glassboro

Acceptance rate: 58 percent

Graduation rate: 71 percent

2017 tuition and fees (in-state): $13,422

Last year's ranking: Unranked

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140. New Jersey Institute of Technology

Location: Newark

Acceptance rate: 59 percent

Graduation rate: 61 percent

2017 tuition and fees (in-state): $16,898

Last year's ranking: 135

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133. Rutgers- Newark

Location: Newark

Acceptance rate: 67 percent

Graduation rate: 64 percent

2017 tuition and fees (in-state): $14,107

Last year's ranking: 135

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124. Seton Hall University

Location: South Orange

Acceptance rate: 67 percent

Graduation rate: 64 percent

2017 tuition and fees: $41,452

Last year's ranking: 118

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69. Stevens Institute of Technology (tie)

Location: Hoboken

Acceptance rate: 39 percent

Graduation rate: 83 percent

2017 tuition and fees: $50,725

Last year's ranking: 71

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(Photo courtesy of Rutgers University)

69. Rutgers University-New Brunswick (tie)

Location: New Brunswick

Acceptance rate: 57 percent

Graduation rate: 80 percent

2017 tuition and fees: $14,637

Last year's ranking: 70

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1. Princeton University

Location: Princeton

Acceptance rate: 7 percent

Graduation rate: 97 percent

2017 tuition and fees: $50,640

Last year's ranking: 1

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Top-5 national universities

The main classification used by U.S. News is the national university category, which comprises schools that offer the widest variety of degrees. Here are the top-five colleges in the country.

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (tie)

5. Columbia University (tie)

3. Yale University (tie)

3. University of Chicago (tie)

2. Harvard University

1. Princeton University

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N.J.'s top regional universities

Schools that are have a smaller student body or offer fewer advanced degrees are considered regional universities by U.S. News, which divides these colleges into regions. N.J. schools are in the north region, which comprises 187 schools, and those that made the list are below.

137. Kean University (tie)

137. Georgian Court University (tie)

137. College of Saint Elizabeth (tie)

135. Centenary University

102. Caldwell University

97. Saint Peter's University

64. Fairleigh Dickinson University

41. Stockton University

37. Ramapo College of New Jersey (tie)

34. Rider University

28. Monmouth University

25. Rutgers University-Camden

4. College of New Jersey

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(Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media)

N.J.'s top liberal arts college

U.S. News also ranks liberal arts colleges, which are the schools that issue mostly arts and science degrees and don't offer professional degrees, like business and nursing. Only one N.J. school made this year's list.

112. Drew University

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N.J. schools with the best value

In considering good value, U.S. News weighs the academic performance of a school against the cost to attend for those students who get the average amount of needs-based financial aid. The better the school and lower the cost, the better the value. Two N.J. schools were considered good enough value to make the list.

32. New Jersey Institute of Technology

1. Princeton University

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Methodology

Below is a breakdown of how U.S. News and World Report determines the top colleges:

30 percent: Student outcomes, including graduation rates and freshman-retention rates

20 percent: Faculty resources, including class sizes, student-faculty ration

10 percent: Financial resources, meaning money spent on educating students

22.5 percent: Expert opinion, including those of school presidents, admissions officers and high-school counselors

12.5 percent: Student excellence, including SAT/ACT scores of incoming students and acceptance rates

5 percent: Alumni giving, meaning the percentage of graduates who give back to the school

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Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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