I’m a high school senior accepted to Rowan electrical and computer engineering program and have received a 15k merit scholarship renewable for all 4 years which brings the total cost of attending Rowan well under 20k . Also accepted at TCNJ and received 5k merit scholarship. Also accepted to Rutgers and received 2k merit aid… Loved TCNJs campus and it’s generally viewed as the overall better academic school over Rowan and Rutgers but TCNJ engineering is not as highly ranked as either Rutgers or Rowan engineering. Rutgers large campus and class sizes make it less desirable to me. What’s making this an unexpected tough decision is how impressed I was by the Rowan campus, it’s new facilities and it’s new dorm. Is TCNJs perceived overall superiority enough to give it the nod? Or would I be I crazy to turn down Rowan’s generous scholarship and substantial savings over TCNJ? I walked away from from the Rowan tour thinking that Rowan may eclipse TCNJs “name” cache in the near future given all the investment in the campus and it’s STEM programs.
To me, TCNJ is known as a great teacher’s college. For engineering, I would hands down take Rowan over TCNJ any day of the week!
I think that Rowan is on the rise but hasn’t made it to TCNJ’s level
yet…hence the need for the scholarships to entice people to attend…but it is a good price!
Rutgers is huge so that is up to you whether you prefer a larger or smaller school.
Rowan is a great value at the moment. How are you going to pay the difference? It’s a lot of money.
Didn’t we already have this exact same discussion in February?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-new-jersey/1967312-tcnj-rutgers-or-rowan.html#latest
Rowan for engineering 
For other subjects TCNJ is great but Rowan has really stepped up its game for engineering. Take the scholarship and don’t look back. Congratulations!!
@bopper As far as engineering, and now medicine, TCNJ is level-down to Rowan.
Don’t get me wrong; I like TCNJ. But, since it’s smaller, it’s more selective. Rowan, depending on the course of study, will take a chance on students that might not get into TCNJ - more CC transfers, and some of those who Rutgers might send to a satellite campus.
What it ultimately comes down to is the student, not the label.
Actually, at this point it is harder to get into Rowan engineering than TCNJ. I am speaking specifically of the engineering program. I think TCNJ is still harder to get in all other majors, especially biology.
tcnj you will be surrounded by higher quality students as standards across all disciplines are higher. Also they will be opening their brand new 100mm stem facility in the fall of 17 so just like all their departments I fully expect they will become the public high water mark in each field just as they have always done before.
I agree with most of what you say except for engineering. The new STEM building at TCNJ will not house engineering. I went into my decision making progress thinking TCNJ would be my ultimate destination. Then I visited Rowan and saw the new facility and labs as well as the new dorms, spoke to recruiters and engineers, researched the outcomes of Rowan engineering graduates, considered Rowans incredible value/cost of its engineering programs, considered that Rowan engineering majors graduate in 4 years —and came to the conclusion that for undergraduate engineering— THE place to go in the State of NJ (other than Princeton) is Rowan hands down. We can debate Rowan v Rutgers and TCNJ and njit and Stevens all day, but seeing was believing for me. If I was going to be a teacher, I’d probably go to TCNJ (and endure the less than stellar freshman dorms)But I’m not going to be a teacher.
Rowan for engineering, TCNJ for everything else. 
@MYOS1634 ,
I agree unless money is an issue. Rowan seems much more generous with merit aid.
for the record , there is NO debate. Stevens is way ahead of Rowan for engineering assuming cost is not an issue. And even if it is.
Lol! Stevens at 70k plus vs Rowan at 30k?
Stevens at 280k over four years if you graduate on time vs 120k for Rowan?
It costs less to get a bachelors and masters at Rowan than it does for just a bachelors at Stevens!
I felt the same as you prior to visiting the new facilities and dorm at Rowan. If cost is no issue than ok, go to Stevens if you want but to say there is NO debate vs Rowan is absurd. Factor in cost and the fact that you can obtain a combined electrical and computer bachelors and a Masters at Rowan for less than the cost of four years at Stevens as well as enjoy new classrooms, labs and dorms nicer than what Stevens has, well, there is a debate there. Let’s see where the debate stands 2-3 years from now…
if we are talking academics , then yes hands down, no discussion Stevens institute way way ahead of Rowan. The only and its the ONLY advantage for Rowan is cost. They are not the same in alumni results at all.