We are going to walk through what the federal government reports about this college: who studies there, how much it costs, how difficult it is to get in, and what happens to students once they arrive. All of this is just one piece of the map. The other two—what your child wants and what your family can afford—are known only to you.
What Kind of School Ramapo Is
Ramapo College of New Jersey is a public, four-year institution located in Mahwah, New Jersey, in Bergen County. It is within the New York metropolitan area, but do not confuse that with being in the city: its census code places it in a suburb, within the urbanized area but outside the principal urban core. If your child is thinking about living at home and driving every day, do not rely on what the map says: drive the route on a weekday at the exact time of his classes. Actual traffic is almost never what the app promises.
The Carnegie system, which classifies the nation’s colleges by what they do, places it among master’s colleges and universities with larger graduate programs and describes it as a medium-sized, highly residential four-year school: at the time of that classification, at least half of its undergraduates lived in housing owned, controlled, or affiliated with the institution, and at least 80 out of every 100 attended full time. It also places Ramapo among institutions with high transfer-in enrollment. If your child were to come here after studying somewhere else, that does not tell you how many credits the college would accept: request that information in writing before enrolling.
The government reports the doctorate as the highest level the institution says it offers and classifies it as a school primarily oriented toward bachelor’s degrees or higher. This is an institutional-level fact, an umbrella: it does not tell you whether the exact major your child is interested in exists or how it connects with a graduate program. That must be investigated program by program.
One more thing, simple but important: Ramapo has none of the three specific designations the government tracks—it is not a historically Black college or university, a tribal college or university, or a land-grant institution. Of the 3,012 colleges and universities in this national directory, 138 have at least one of those three labels. Ramapo’s not having them says nothing about which communities it serves today, how many Latino students are there, or how your child will feel there. Ask directly: what cultural centers exist, what student organizations are available, and, better yet, talk with someone who already studies there.
Who Studies at Ramapo
In the fall of 2023, 24 out of every 100 undergraduates identified as Hispanic or Latino. They are not the majority, but neither is their presence unusual: compared with 519 similar selective public schools in this census, that share places Ramapo in the group’s highest quartile.
Adults ages 25 through 64 are few: 9 out of every 100. There are more women than men—58 out of every 100 are women. And here is something worth knowing if your child is considering coming from another state: 93 out of every 100 first-time students reported a permanent address in New Jersey when they applied. This is a predominantly local school. If your child’s address is in another state, ask directly which tuition rate would apply and what requirements the college uses to classify him, because the address reported here and the tuition classification are two different things.
As for size: total enrollment is 5,521, with undergraduate enrollment at 5,013 and graduate enrollment at only 508. Above all, it is a bachelor’s-degree-granting school. It is neither one of the giants nor one of the tiny schools: compared with similar institutions, it falls right in the middle. And here is a simple truth that applies to any college: being large does not mean more options, and being small does not mean more attention for your child. What matters is the specific major, not the school’s total size.
How the Academic Year Works and What Ramapo Recognizes
Ramapo organizes its academic year into semesters: two long terms of about 15 weeks each. The institution reported that it accepts credit from AP exams as well as what IPEDS calls “credit for life experiences”—learning acquired through independent study, work experience, portfolios, prior licenses or certifications, or military opportunities. It also reports accepting credit for military training and enrolls high school students in college-credit courses, both within and outside formal dual-enrollment programs.
Here is a hard truth that applies at every college in the country: saying that they accept AP does not mean they award credit for every exam. It does not say what score they require or whether those credits count toward your child’s specific major. Request the equivalency evaluation in writing before calculating how much you will save.
As for its degree offerings: between July 2022 and June 2023, Ramapo awarded 1,157 bachelor’s degrees across 21 fields of study. The largest was business and management, with 25 out of every 100 degrees—no other field exceeded it, but it does not dominate the total either. The offerings are broad, without a single major accounting for the bulk of the degrees.
The student-to-instructional-staff ratio is 16 to 1, a middle-of-the-pack figure compared with similar schools. Be careful: this does not tell you the actual size of your child’s classes. It is an institutional average, not a promise about the classroom where he will sit.
The Academic Pathways the Institution Reports
Ramapo reports offering study abroad, undergraduate research outside the classroom, a complete program that can be taken entirely during evenings or weekends, credit-bearing developmental education, and pathways that prepare students for teacher certification, including state approval for initial teacher certification. These pathways are reported as existing; their existence does not yet tell you whether they fit what your child wants. Investigate that program by program by speaking directly with the department.
What It Is Like to Apply to Ramapo
This is where many families begin to feel anxious, so let’s take it slowly and use the exact numbers.
Ramapo does not have open admission: it reviews application materials before saying yes. Of the nine considerations the government tracks, it marked five as required: the high school record, GPA, completion of the college-preparatory coursework the institution requires, letters of recommendation, and an English-proficiency exam for applicants to whom it applies. Class rank and the personal essay are not required, but the college considers them if you submit them. The application fee is $65.
As for letters of recommendation: request them a month in advance. Give the teacher a sheet listing what your child has done over the years, because no one remembers everything in the detail it deserves.
Now, the numbers that really move the needle:
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Applicants (cycle 2023) | 7,553 |
| Admitted | 5,530 (73 out of every 100) |
| Not admitted | 2,023 |
| Of those admitted, enrolled | 18 out of every 100 |
Seventy-three out of every hundred applicants are admitted. Compared with similar selective public schools, that rate falls in the middle of the pack, slightly below the group’s midpoint. Put simply: there are thousands of applicants, and most of them still get in. Your child has a real reason to apply and also a real reason to complete his application fully and on time. But remember: that 73 out of every 100 comes from a single cycle, not a fixed rule of the institution. When it is your child’s turn, check the figure again for the year in which he applies.
What surprises many families is what happens after admission: out of every 100 admitted applicants, only 18 enroll. The other 82 had a place here and did not take it. Do not read this as a stain on the school—the record does not say why each person made that decision. What it does tell you is something useful: what others decided does not predict what you will be offered. Wait for your letter with the net price—what it will actually cost you—before drawing any conclusion about whether this school stays on the list.
As for standardized tests: the SAT and ACT are not required. Only 5 out of every 100 enrolled students submitted an SAT score, one of the lowest shares among schools of its type. Among those who did submit one, the middle half scored between 560 and 640 in reading and writing and between 560 and 630 in mathematics. But be careful: those ranges include only students who enrolled and submitted scores, not all applicants. That 560 is not a minimum that must be reached, and that 640 does not guarantee anything either.
And on transfers, there are two sides of the same coin: of the entering class of 2017, 16 out of every 100 transferred to another school without completing at Ramapo—a relatively low figure compared with similar schools. At the same time, Ramapo’s incoming transfer enrollment in 2023 was 368, a high figure in the other direction. Transferring is not failing. But if your child arrives as a transfer student, ask in writing, with the course list in hand, which credits the college will accept before he makes the move.
How Much It Costs and What Is Actually Paid
At Ramapo College of New Jersey, among the 92 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid, paid the in-state or in-district rate, and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $10,142. Among the 81 students in the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $18,536; among the 189 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $26,671. For dependent students, the band combines their parents’ income with their own.
The difference between the average for the lowest-income band, with 92 in its student population, and the average for the highest-income band, with 189 in its student population, is $16,529. These are group averages, not a prediction of your family’s price. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship aid, the average was $17,348.
$10,142 was the average net price for the lowest-income families in academic year 2022-23. That does not mean it is what your family will pay. It helps you determine whether it is worth waiting for the financial aid letter.
Because the price changes so much from one income band to another, correctly identifying yours is the first step. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average with grant or scholarship aid, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The letter that matters is the financial aid letter sent to you.
How It Is Paid For: Grants, Loans, and Plans
At Ramapo, 55 out of every 100 students received aid that does not have to be repaid—more than half, but not everyone. Among recipients, the average for the year was $12,936. Compared with similar schools, the share of students receiving grant or scholarship aid falls in the group’s lowest quartile.
The Pell Grant, reserved for low-income families, reached 28 out of every 100 students. That is less than the overall share receiving aid, which means other sources—institutional, state, and other programs—cover the difference. Ask specifically which programs make up that difference and what they require.
As for loans: 39 out of every 100 undergraduates received a federal loan in 2022-23, with an average of $6,597 per student that year. That is a middle-range figure compared with similar schools: neither among those generating the most debt nor among those generating the least. But this figure does not include Parent PLUS loans that parents sometimes sign for, debt from private banks, or the accumulated debt with which someone graduates—to determine that, you would have to add several years together, and that information does not exist in this report.
Here is a truth that applies to every college, not just this one: this percentage describes other families, not yours. The amount your child would have to borrow can be determined only from his own financial aid letter. Wait for it before ruling out the school and before committing to it.
The institution also reports offering an installment tuition payment plan in case paying everything at once does not work for the family budget.
Campus Life, Athletics, and Support
Ramapo has institution-owned housing and does not require all first-year students to live there—although that does not mean no program has such a requirement. It also offers meal plans, with a fixed number of meals per week in its largest option. The reported maximum housing capacity is 2,615. The existence of a room does not guarantee that a bed will be available for your child: ask in writing for the rate for that year, the application deadline, and whether housing is guaranteed or applicants are placed on a waiting list.
ROTC opportunities are available in two branches: the Army and Air Force. The Navy is not marked as available. Its being reported does not mean the program is necessarily taught on this campus—ask directly for its name, available spaces, and requirements.
Ramapo competes in intercollegiate athletics and is affiliated with the NCAA, with reported membership in basketball, baseball, and cross-country or track and field. If sports matter to your child, the membership belongs to the school and is not an individual guarantee: write directly to the coach and ask about roster availability, division, and whether that sport offers scholarships.
It offers distance education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, although only 2 out of every 100 undergraduates take all their classes that way—the vast majority combine formats. The library has paid staff, physical and digital materials, and interlibrary lending. And among the services it reports are combined academic and career counseling, employment services, a point of contact for veterans and military personnel, and a page dedicated to services for students with disabilities.
What Happens to Students After They Enroll
This is perhaps the part that should matter most to you, because it addresses the whole journey, not just admission.
Of the entering class of 2022, 87 out of every 100 were still enrolled or had already completed their program one year later—a strong result compared with similar schools. But be careful: this figure combines two different groups, “still here” and “already graduated,” and it does not separate them or say what happened to everyone else.
Of the class that entered in 2017 seeking a bachelor’s degree, 72 out of every 100 had the degree in hand six years later. At the four-year mark, the figure falls to 59 out of every 100—a difference of 13 points showing that many need additional time. Compared with similar schools, that 72 places Ramapo in the group’s highest quartile.
It is worth looking at the complete breakdown of that cohort, which comprised 917 students: 659 graduated here, 151 transferred to another institution without completing at Ramapo, 9 remained enrolled without completing, and 98 fell into the “no longer enrolled” category—which does not explain the reason and may include people who completed after the official time limit.
Here is the hard truth, without embellishment: a high percentage does not mean your child will earn a degree. It is what happened to the class that entered in 2017. What is within your family’s control is making sure he starts with his credits in order and knows, from the first semester, who his advisor is and when to register for the courses in his major.
One final figure, with a longer time horizon: of the cohort that entered between 2015 and 2016, 69 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from this school by the eight-year mark. Among Pell Grant recipients, the figure was 72 out of every 100—four points above the group without Pell. And the remaining 13 out of every 100 had “unknown” status: the report could not determine whether they remained enrolled elsewhere or why. It is not a zero; it is simply something that is not known.
What This Article Cannot Tell You
This article cannot tell you whether Ramapo is the right college for your child. It does not know what he wants to study, how much your family can afford, or whether he would have to live far from home. The numbers you have just read describe past cohorts of students in circumstances that are not necessarily his. A high graduation rate is not a promise; a middle-range borrowing rate is not the loan you would sign; a low enrollment rate after admission says nothing about the quality of the offer your child would receive.
You now have an in-depth understanding of one of the three pieces you need to decide: what this college actually is and offers, according to its own official reports. Combine it with what your child wants to study and what he has built so far, along with what your family can and is willing to pay. A real plan comes from that combination, not from a single figure.
Keep researching. Request the letters in writing. Verify credits before assuming they will transfer. Wait for the net price before ruling the school out or getting your hopes up. And above all, do not let a teenager carry alone the burden of a system that you are also only beginning to learn how to navigate.
Source note: The information in this article comes from public reports that Ramapo College of New Jersey submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), primarily for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 cycles, with some classification figures based on data from 2019-20 and 2021. Best College Aid does not represent Ramapo College of New Jersey or the United States government; this piece is educational material intended to help families understand public data.