The most affordable online colleges in New Jersey come in many forms. Some online colleges in New Jersey are faith-based, some are part of the state university system, and others are private colleges emerging from the Junior College system.
Education is one of the focuses of New Jersey. The state is one of the original colonies that bound together to rebel against the distant and destructive rule of Britain. The spirit of stepping out to explore new horizons is still a part of the New Jersey culture, as shown by the advances in education of which NJ has been eager to be a part.
New Jersey was an important battleground during the American Revolution, the site of the famous Battle of Trenton, where the course of the war turned to the American favor as well as other famous battles. The state jumped into the Constitution; it was the third state to ratify. New Jersey sent 88,000 of its young men to the Civil War and the same number to World War One and Two. The state led the nation during the industrial revolution, preparing most of the essential products that led the way to cross the continent. In education, the state, according to every critic, excels. When online training came available, New Jersey jumped in with a vigor typical of its legendary past.
The universities on this list award the ten most affordable online degrees in New Jersey. The schools included on this list are selected from all of the colleges or universities registered on the National Center of Educational Statistics website in New Jersey that award online undergraduate degrees. To get on this list of the most affordable online colleges in New Jersey, a school must hold regional accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The schools on our list of the 10 cheapest online colleges in NJ are ranked from highest to lowest by tuition.
Ranking Low-Cost Online New Jersey Colleges
10. Felician University
Lodi, New Jersey
Tuition: $34,320
Felician University was founded as a Roman Catholic Franciscan Normal school in 1923 to provide faith-based educators for schools in the area. Today, the school hosts students with many religious, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. The campus is in two sections, three miles apart; one campus is in Lodi, NJ, while the other is in Rutherford. The school has a shuttle that moves campus-based students between the campuses. Located just 12 miles from New York City, the school offers students plenty of opportunities to work with non-profit organizations in the area. The school provides significant access to online education for its on-campus students as well as distance learners. The school offers two low-cost nursing baccalaureate opportunities for distance learners: Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) and the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Felician University concentrates its online efforts on advanced degrees. At the masters-level, the school offers online degrees in:
- Master of Arts in Religious Education
- Master of Science in Nursing: Family or Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
- Master of Science: Family Nurse Practitioner
- Master of Science: Nursing Administration
To augment its commitment to healthcare, an essential element of the practice of Franciscan Sister and Monk practices, the school offers a post-masters-level certification for those who wish to enter higher service levels in the craft of nursing—Post-Master’s Certificate: Adult-Gerontology or Nurse Practitioner.
Students pursuing the highest level of education find excellent online doctoral-level programs at Felician University, including:
- Doctor of Business Administration
- Doctor of Nursing Practice: Advanced Practice
- Doctor of Nursing Practice: Executive Leadership
9. Centenary University
Hackettstown, New Jersey
Tuition: $32,998
Centenary University was founded in 1867 as a service-oriented educational institution by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church. The school has maintained its original mission to produce graduates that move into the community committed to developing progressive ideas and effective leadership. Though somewhat limited in size, the campus extends into the virtual world to prepare students of diverse religions, ethnicity, and economic opportunities for the world beyond graduation. To reach those potential students who have never considered entering a university but who wish to advance their learning, Centenary University offers one affordable associate-level degree online—Associate of Liberal Arts with a Business Emphasis. Students who experience the online environment while seeking this associate degree often return to pursue one of the four online baccalaureate degrees that the university provides through their online presence, including:
- Bachelor of Science in Accounting
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Social Media Marketing
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Data Analytics
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Management
After concentrating on developing undergraduate programs online, Centenary University is starting its program at the masters-level with a Master of Business Administration-Accelerated program, which allows a student to cover a three-year program in as little as one and ½ years. To augment its existing baccalaureate programs, the school offers a series of certifications such as:
- Certificate in Health Administration
- Certificate in Leadership
- Certificate in Social Media Marketing
- Data Analytics Certificate
Students with these degrees in hand find employment in their field almost immediately. The reputation of Centenary University proceeds the student into any job interview.
8. Georgian Court University
Lakewood, New Jersey
Tuition: $32,976
Georgian Court University is the only Roman Catholic-sponsored university located in the southern half of New Jersey. The school was founded in 1908 by the Sisters Of Mercy to facilitate the education of women as educators. In 2013, the school moved to a coeducation format after over 100-years as a women’s only college. The university is open today to people of all faiths, ethnic backgrounds, and economic circumstances and has a student body of over 2,000. The Lakewood campus located on 156-acres was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. With limited physical room on the campus, the school chose to expand through the Internet, registering more students in classes than ever before, for bachelor’s, master’s, certification, and New Jersey specific educational certification programs.
The school offers two low-cost baccalaureate completion degrees online—Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. These programs are for students who have already completed their lower-division classes and are seeking to finish the final two years of their baccalaureate online.
Georgian Court University concentrates its online efforts in graduate studies. The master-level programs the school offers entirely online include:
- Master of Arts in Administration & Leadership
- Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies
- Master of Arts in Higher Education % Student Affairs Administration
- Master of Science in Communication & Digital Marketing
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Business Administration with Healthcare Management Concentration
- Master of Education in Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Master of Education in English as a Second Language
- Master of Education in Teacher of Students with Disabilities
Teachers in New Jersey can expand their opportunities by gaining an endorsement in several areas of education at Georgian Court University. The courses offered entirely online to advance the careers for busy educators through endorsements involve an additional 12 credit hours These endorsements include:
- Endorsement in Bilingual/bicultural Education
- Endorsement in English as a Second Language
- Endorsement as School Supervisor (a post-master’s endorsement)
- Endorsement as Teacher of Students with Disabilities
Graduate certificate programs are designed to increase the knowledge of students in a particular area of their work. Such certification programs involve 15 to 18 credit hours of study after the completion of a master’s degree. These certifications at Georgian Court University are:
- Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Certificate in Business Essentials
- Certificate in Holistic Health
- Certificate in Mercy Spirituality
7. Berkley College-Woodland Park
Woodland Park, New Jersey
Tuition: $25,000
Berkley College-Woodland Park is one of seven campuses in the Berkley College System. The college serves students from around the globe with its impressive affordable online presence and students in the areas of their campuses in traditional classrooms. The seven campuses are in New York and New Jersey. The three New Your campuses are located in:
- Midtown Manhattan
- Brooklyn
- White Plains
The four New Jersey campuses are located throughout the state in the communities of:
- Newark
- Paramus
- Woodbridge
- Woodland Park
The college was founded in 1931 as a for-profit educational organization that allowed students to attend classes locally at a lesser cost than the large institutions like Yale, Princeton, and Harvard. The quality of education available at Berkley College has always been competitive. When the Internet burst forth as an educational force, Berkey College the school eagerly joined. Today, the school has a student body of over 30,000. The school offers associate, baccalaureate, and master degrees as well as certification courses either at one of their campuses or online. The degrees offered online are limited as many degrees and certifications require lab studies along with content classes. The associate-level courses offered online through Berkley College-Woodland Park and the other campuses include:
- Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration-Accounting
- Associate of Applied Science in Fashion Merchandising and Management
- Associate of Applied Science in Financial Services
- Associate of Applied Science in Health Services
- Associate of Applied Science in Information Technology Management
- Associate of Science in International Business
- Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration-Management
- Associate of Applied Science in Marketing Communications
- Associate of Applied Science in Health Sciences
- Associate of Applied Science in Health Services Administration-Medical Insurance, Billing, and Coding
- Associate of Applied Science in Medical Assistant
- Associate of Applied Science in Surgical Technology
- Associate of Applied Science in Interior Design
- Associate of Applied Science in Justice Studies-Criminal Justice
- Associate of Applied Science in Legal Studies
These degrees require a minimum of 60-credit hours to complete. The baccalaureate degrees at the school require a minimum of 120-credit hours of study to graduate. Their online Bachelor degrees include:
- Bachelor of Business Administration-Accounting
- Bachelor of Business Administration-Fashion Merchandising and Management
- Bachelor of Business Administration-Financial Services
- Bachelor of Business Administration-General Business
- Bachelor of Business Administration-Health Services Management
- Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Management
- Bachelor of Business Administration-International Business
- Bachelor of Business Administration-Management
- Bachelor of Business Administration-Marketing Communications
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing-LPN to BSN
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design
- Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies-Criminal Justice
- Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies
Berkley College-Woodland Park offers a Master of Business Administration-Management degree either attending classes on campus or online. Those students pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration can elect to extend their study period through an accelerated program to obtain the baccalaureate degree and the master’s degree during the same graduation ceremony.
6. Rutgers University
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Tuition: $14,974
Rutgers University is the eight-oldest educational institution in the country. Founded in 1766 as the Queens College, the school started as a liberal arts institution that only permitted men to attend. Recently, the school was designated as “The State University of New Jersey” by the state legislature. It is now a coeducational institution accepting students from around the world. The school handles the education requirements of 69,000 students, making it one of the largest universities in the world. The university jumped into the fray when the online revolution developed and fostered unique online programs that gradually evolved into online degrees as technology improved.
Rutgers University offers two baccalaureate degrees online in the fields of business and nursing. The Bachelor of Business Administration degree is considered one of the finest available online. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is designed for RNs to move into administrative roles with a BSN.
Most of the online degree programs at Rutgers are presented at the masters-level. One post-graduate certification is available—Graduate Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion—which students often use as a step toward a master’s degree in labor-management relations. The masters-level degrees that Rutgers offers online include:
- Master of Education in Adult and Continuing Education
- Master of Education in Language Education
- Master of Education in Learning, Cognition, and Development
- Masters of Business Administration
- Master of Science in Business Analytics
- Master of Accountancy in Governmental Accounting
- Master of Information
- Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
- Master of Music in Music Education
- Master of Public Administration
- Master of Social Work in Clinical Social Work
- Master of Science in Supply Chain Management Program
5. Rowan University
Glassboro, New Jersey
Tuition: $13,697
Rowan University was founded in 1923 by a group of 107 Greensboro, NJ residents who were concerned about the lack o qualified educators in the area. Their donation of 25 acres of land on which to locate the teacher’s school in a lovely section of New Jersey attracted quality faculty who saw the area as the perfect location in which to live and work. Today, Rowan University is the port of call for nearly 20,000 students seeking degrees in 12 schools and colleges with the university. The school offers 74 baccalaureates, 51 master’s, and four doctoral degree programs along with seven undergraduate certification programs and 38 post-baccalaureate certifications, many of which are provided entirely in an affordable online format.
Rowan University offers a unique affordable online program for students who are transferring with some college credits with their Global Learning& Partnership Program. The concept is to allow students from across the globe to finish their bachelor’s by gaining a certification a Rowan in their field of study. Those certifications include:
- Fundamental Computing Certificate of Undergraduate Study
- Human Services Administration Certificate of Undergraduate Study
- Human Services Criminal Justice Certificate of Undergraduate Study
- Human Services Direct Care Certificate of Undergraduate Study
- Professional Communication Certificate of Undergraduate Study
Of the 74 bachelor’s degrees offered at Rowan University, students can find five that are presented entirely online, including:
- Bachelor of Arts in Construction Management
- Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in Law and Justice
- Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Whereas students seeking a master’s at Rowan have 51 programs to choose from, those taking classes online are limited to:
- Master of Arts in Criminal Justice
- Master of Arts in School Administration
- Master of Arts in Special Education
- Master of Science in Finance
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Music: Jazz Studies
4. Strayer University-New Jersey
Cherry Hill Mall, New Jersey
Tuition: $13,380
While Strayer University operates campuses in 15 states for students who wish to attend traditional university classrooms, most of the 50,000 students that attend the university do so online. Every degree offered by Strayer University is available online, including associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees are any one of three campuses located in New Jersey—Cherry Hill Mall, Piscataway, and Willingboro. The associate-level degrees are among the most affordable online degrees in New Jersey. These degrees provide a fundamental understanding of how systems and organizations work in the fields that students choose. The associate-level degrees available online are:
- Associate of Arts in Accounting
- Associate of Arts in Acquisition & Contract Management
- Associate of Arts in Business Administration
- Associate of Arts in Marketing
- Associate of Arts in Information Systems
- Associate of Arts in Information Technology
Students who complete the associate degree programs at Strayer have the opportunity to move on to the baccalaureate level. The 60 credit hours that the associate degree demands are half the 120-credit hours required to finish a bachelor’s degree. The five affordable bachelor degree programs provided in the Strayer online format include:
- Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
- Bachelor of Science in Accounting
- Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
- Bachelor of Applied Science in Management
Strayer University presents 11 masters-level degrees online in several fields. Those degrees include:
- Master of Science in Accounting
- Master of Science in Management
- Digital Entrepreneurship Master of Business Administration
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Human Resource Management
- Master of Public Administration
- Jack Welch Master of Business Administration
- Master of Education
- Master of Health Services Administration
- Master of Science in Information Assurance
- Master of Science in Information Systems
3. William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, New Jersey
Tuition: $13,060
Founded in 1855, William Paterson University of New Jersey is the second-oldest university in New Jersey. The school is in the New York City Metropolitan area on 370 acres of hilly and wooded land. The university graduates the sixth-largest number of students of any higher learning institution in New Jersey each year. Its original mission, which the school followed for the first hundred years of its existence, was to graduate teachers to supply the ever-growing need for teachers in the New York/New Jersey area. Today, William Paterson University of New Jersey has a student body of over 10,000 who study in multiple fields to obtain undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The online programs that the school offers and maintains are some of the most affordable degrees found in New Jersey. The undergraduate online programs involve a Bachelor of Arts in multiple tracks that include such fields as history, geography, psychology, political science, English literature, creative writing, and sociology.
Graduate-level students can pursue master’s degrees entirely online in Master of Education in Curriculum and Learning: School Library Media Concentration, and Master of Education in Literacy.
2. Kean University
Union, New Jersey
Tuition: $12,348
Kean University, founded in 1855 as a teacher’s college, is today the third-largest educational institution in the state of New Jersey. Its high graduation rate is indicative of the attenting faculty and staff place on students. The university offers 50 undergraduate degrees as well as 60 master’s, doctoral, and certification opportunities to its students through seven different colleges and schools. Kean University is dedicated to providing an affordable online experience for students through a school devoted entirely to the online experience. The undergraduate degrees offered online by Kean University include:
- Bachelor of Science in Accounting
- Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice
- Bachelor of Science in Management: General Business Option
- Bachelor of Science in Management: Entrepreneurship Option
- Bachelor Science in Management: Management of Organization Option
- Bachelor Science in Management: Supply Chain Management Option
- Human resources Management Option
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology: Forensic Psychology Option
- Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Kean University also offers several masters-level degrees online including:
- Master of Science in Computer Information Technology
- Master of Arts in Education Administration: Supervisor and Principal
- Master of Arts in Education Administration: School Business Administrator
- Master of Arts in Education Administration: Supervisors, Principals, and School Business Administrators
- Master of Arts in Hindi and Urdu Language Pedagogy
For students looking to add post-graduate certifications to their repertoire, Kean University offers a rich diversity of programs such as:
- Educational Administration, Post-Master’s Certification: School Business Administrator
- Educational Administration, Post-Master’s Certification: Principal
- Educational Administration, Post-Master’s Certification: Supervisor
- Educational Administration, Post-Master’s Certification: Supervisor, Principal, and School Business Administrator
- Educational Administration, Post-Master’s Certification: Digital Leadership
- Speech-Language Pathology Pre-Professional Program
1. Thomas Edison State University
Trenton, New Jersey
Tuition: $7,519
Thomas Edison State University in Trenton, New Jersey, was founded in 1972 by an act of the State Education Board. For students looking for a cheap online degree in New Jersey, Thomas Edison State University offers the highest quality online degrees at the lowest cost. In keeping with the progressive views of its namesake, the school offers an immense itinerary of online opportunities at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and certification levels. Associate degrees are often the foundation of a student’s education. At Thomas Edison State University, associate-level degrees include:
- Associate of Arts
- Associate of Arts in Human Services
- Associate of Applied Science in Applied Computer Studies
- Associate of Applied Science in Applied Electronic Studies
- Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice
- Associate of Science in Computer and Information technology
- Associate of Science in Electrical Technology
- Associate of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology
- Associate of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology
- Associate of Science in Technical Studies
- Associate of Science in Business Administration
- Associate in Science in Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Mathematics
- Associate in Science in Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Computer Science
These associate-level degrees work well as a foundation for a student’s continued education at Thomas Edison State University. Students can continue with their online education to a choice of 33 bachelor’s degrees presented entirely online before attempting their choice among the 17 masters-level degrees also available online. The school sponsors 15 undergraduate certification through online programs as well as 22 graduate-level certifications. The commitment by the Thomas Edison State University to provide an affordable online presence is undoubtedly the strongest amongst all the online education opportunities in New Jersey.
For a student in New Jersey, online courses and degrees are easy to find. These affordable online colleges in New Jersey are amongst the best across the country and around the globe.
AS Staff
December 2019
This concludes our list of the ten most affordable online colleges in New Jersey for 2020
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