Research · High schools - New Jersey · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in New Jersey? 531 Public and 242 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in New Jersey? 531 Public and 242 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: New Jersey has 773 high schools: 531 public and 242 private. The largest is Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne, with 3,565 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in New Jersey by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

New Jersey has 773 high schools. 531 are public and 242 are private. The 489 public high schools that report enrollment hold 419,310 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Passaic County Technical Institute is the largest public high school in New Jersey. It enrolls 3,565 students in grades 9 through 12 in Wayne. The 15th largest school on the table, Edison High School in Edison, enrolls 2,393. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in New Jersey is Paul Vi High School. It enrolls 983 students in Haddonfield. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in New Jersey

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Passaic County Technical Institute	Wayne	3,565	No
Clifton High School	Clifton	3,150	No
Union City High School	Union City	3,147	No
Bayonne High School	Bayonne	2,830	No
Perth Amboy High School	Perth Amboy	2,769	No
Vineland Senior High School	Vineland	2,736	No
John P. Stevens High School	Edison	2,687	No
Bridgewater-Raritan High School	Bridgewater	2,673	No
South Brunswick High School	Monmouth Junction	2,666	No
Old Bridge High School	Matawan	2,659	No
Monroe Township High School	Monroe Township	2,583	No
Passaic High School No. 12	Passaic	2,484	No
New Brunswick High School	New Brunswick	2,443	No
Union High School	Union	2,410	No
Edison High School	Edison	2,393	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in New Jersey

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
Paul Vi High School	Haddonfield	983
Seton Hall Preparatory School	West Orange	976
The Frisch School	Paramus	923
St Peters Preparatory School	Jersey City	908
Christian Brothers Academy	Lincroft	876

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in New Jersey

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each New Jersey high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in New Jersey?

New Jersey has 773 high schools: 531 public and 242 private. The largest is Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne, with 3,565 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in New Jersey?

It enrolls 3,565 students in grades 9 through 12 in Wayne.

Are private high schools included in the New Jersey count?

531 are public and 242 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-new-jersey.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).