New Jersey’s largest high school was already bigger than some colleges — and then it got even bigger.
Passaic County Technical Institute enrolled 3,474 students during the 2023-24 school year, according to data from the state Department of Education’s school performance reports. That’s 150 students more than the school had during the previous school year. (See the 11 biggest high schools in New Jersey below.)
To put that into perspective, Drew University enrolled about 2,500 students last year, according to state figures. Several other New Jersey colleges were even smaller.
Two other New Jersey high schools have more than 3,000 students: Clifton High School in Passaic County and Union City High School in Hudson County both had just over 3,100 students enrolled in 2023-24.
Another eight high schools have enrollments of more than 2,500 students. (Find your high school’s enrollment in the chart below.)
Inside the new Perth Amboy High School in Perth Amboy, which opened last year. It is among the largest in New Jersey.
The median size of New Jersey’s 388 schools with 9th through 12th grades is about 890 students. That includes mega-schools like Passaic County Tech, but also ultra-tiny specialty schools, some of which have enrollments below 10.
There are 96 high schools with fewer than 500 students. Many of them are special education schools or tightly- focused magnet schools.
The smallest general education high school in the state is Wildwood High School in Cape May County, enrolling about 250 students for the 2023-2024 school year.
New Jersey’s largest high schools:
Editor’s note: Schools that enrolled grades below 9th were excluded from our ranking of New Jersey’s largest high schools. But you can find them included in the look-up tool below.
1. Passaic County Technical Institute
Number of students: 3,474
2.Clifton High School
Number of students: 3,132
3. Union City High School
Number of students: 3,102
4. Vineland Senior High School
Number of students: 2,745
5. Perth Amboy High School
Number of students: 2,722
6. South Brunswick High School
Number of students: 2,718
7. Bridgewater-Raritan High School
Number of students: 2,704
8. John P. Stevens High School
Number of students: 2,682
9. Old Bridge High School
Number of students: 2,653
10. Monroe Township High School
Number of students: 2,628
11. Bayonne High School
Number of students: 2,579
Can’t see the chart? Click here.
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Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch.