If you plan on enrolling your child into one of New Jersey’s pre-K programs, you can rest assured that your child will receives some of the best early instruction in the nation.
For the 2023-2024 school year, New Jersey enrolled roughly 61,868 children in its pre-K systems, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.
New Jersey’s pre-K programs rank in the top five of WalletHub’s “Best and Worst Early Education Systems” report.
Here’s why WalletHub ranked New Jersey’s system well ahead of pre-K offerings in New York and Pennsylvania.
How good is New Jersey’s pre-K program?
New Jersey’s pre-K system ranked fourth-best in WalletHub’s “Best and Worst Early Education Systems Report,” which credited the Garden State for resources and economic support, as well as accessibility.
WalletHub ranked New Jersey 4th in resources and economic support metric; 9th in the access metric; and 4th overall.
This is an accomplishment, considering that New Jersey doesn’t yet have universal pre-K, although Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation in early July to expand free access.
The National Institute for Early Education Research also ranked New Jersey’s pre-K fourth for access for 3-year-olds, and third in resource rankings.
While WalletHub ranked New Jersey fourth overall in its “Best and Worst Early Education Systems” report, Pennsylvania and New York didn’t fare as well, ranking 18th and 39th, respectively.
The top five pre-K education systems were in Maryland (1), Washington, DC (2), Arkansas (3), New Jersey (4) and New Mexico (5).
At the other end of the spectrum, Missouri ranked last, having the 51st-ranked pre-K system, with New Hampshire (50), Montana (49), Idaho (48) and Massachusetts (47) rounding out the bottom five.
Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: How good is pre-K in NJ? Why WalletHub calls it one of the best