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Largest community colleges in New Jersey

Community colleges in New Jersey ranked by total student enrollment, largest first. Bigger institutions generally offer broader program catalogs, more sections per term, more transfer agreements, and deeper student-services staffing — but smaller colleges often win on advisor attention, classroom intimacy, and faculty access.

  1. Bergen Community CollegeParamus, NJ10,557
  2. Middlesex CollegeEdison, NJ8,469
  3. UCNJ Union College of Union County New JerseyCranford, NJ7,939
  4. Brookdale Community CollegeLincroft, NJ7,901
  5. Camden County CollegeBlackwood, NJ6,636
  6. Hudson County Community CollegeJersey City, NJ6,626
  7. Rowan College at Burlington CountyMount Laurel, NJ6,267
  8. Essex County CollegeNewark, NJ5,855
  9. Ocean County CollegeToms River, NJ5,424
  10. Raritan Valley Community CollegeBranchburg, NJ5,416
  11. Mercer County Community CollegeWest Windsor, NJ5,404
  12. County College of MorrisRandolph, NJ5,360
  13. Jersey CollegeTeterboro, NJ4,478
  14. Passaic County Community CollegePaterson, NJ4,260
  15. Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester CampusSewell, NJ4,234
  16. Atlantic Cape Community CollegeMays Landing, NJ3,755
  17. Sussex County Community CollegeNewton, NJ2,086
  18. Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland CampusVineland, NJ2,074
  19. Eastwick College-RamseyRamsey, NJ1,203
  20. Eastwick College-HackensackHackensack, NJ1,171
  21. Salem Community CollegeCarneys Point, NJ910
  22. Warren County Community CollegeWashington, NJ836
  23. Mosdos Yaakov V'YisroelLakewood, NJ679
  24. Eastwick College-NutleyNutley, NJ618
  25. Yeshiva Gedolah Keren HatorahLakewood, NJ181
  26. Yeshiva Gedola Tiferes YerachmielLakewood, NJ177
  27. Yeshiva Gedolah Shaarei ShmuelLakewood, NJ150
  28. Yeshiva Gedolah of Woodlake VillageLakewood, NJ87
  29. Yeshiva Chemdas HatorahLakewood, NJ72
  30. Yeshiva Gedola Tiferes Yaakov YitzchokLakewood, NJ71
  31. Bais Medrash Mayan HatorahLakewood, NJ36
  32. Assumption College for SistersDenville, NJ30

Why size matters

Enrollment scale shapes nearly every aspect of the student experience at a community college. The largest New Jersey community colleges typically offer multiple sections of every general-education course, robust evening and weekend schedules for working students, full-service career centers and transfer advising offices, and deep portfolios of articulation agreements with four-year institutions across New Jersey and beyond. They also tend to operate multiple campuses or learning centers, which can put a community college within commuting distance of more residents.

Smaller community colleges in New Jersey compete on attention. Smaller cohorts mean a single academic advisor sees you across multiple semesters and can write a substantive recommendation when you transfer or apply for a job. Faculty teach more sections of fewer courses, which means the same instructor often guides you through a sequence rather than handing you off term to term. For students who thrive on relationship and continuity, the smaller institutions on this list can be the better choice even when the larger one offers more programs.

Use this list alongside the state's transfer-outcomes guide and the state's cost-and-aid guide. Together they let you triangulate fit on the three dimensions that matter most for community-college choice: program availability, total cost after aid, and how reliably the institution moves students on to the next step.