So, you're thinking about attending a college or university in New Jersey?

The state of New Jersey, named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel, is located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the U.S. Resorts along its various lakes and seaside have helped to make New Jersey fifth in the nation in terms of revenues from tourism. Even though the state has been being developed for centuries, almost half of the state is still wooded. New Jersey is bordered to the north by New York, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by Delaware, and to the west by Pennsylvania.

Since New Jersey lacks a widespread reservoir system, like the neighboring Greater New York City area, even the slightest dry season can lead to drought warnings. There are many streams and rivers close to most communities in the state. However, this actually causes more trouble then it prevents. Thanks to these rivers and streams, the slightest above average rainfall can cause flooding throughout most of the state since many parts of Northern New Jersey lie on a flood plain.

New Jersey's climate causes the state to experience warm to hot humid summers and cool to cold winters. Average temperatures can vary upwards of 10-15 degrees between the northernmost and southernmost areas. During hurricane season, tropical cyclones can affect the state, but it is rare to have one maintain hurricane strength as far north as New Jersey. During the months of winter, storms referred to as Nor'easterns can cause up to two feet of snow to fall.

The 2005 census estimated New Jersey to have a population of 8,717,925, which makes the state the eleventh most populous state, but also the single most densely populated, with 1,174 people per square mile. Even with this substantial population, the state is known to be the wealthiest state in the nation as well. Out of the nearly 9 million New Jersey residents, about 1.6 million are foreign-born, which is approximately 19.2% of the total population.

The residents of New Jersey have led the state to be considered one of the most liberal and progressive states, socially, in the entire United States. Since the 1980s, New Jersey has become a Democratic stronghold, leaning heavily in support of the Democratic Party in both state and national elections. Currently, the Democratic Party holds the governorship of the state, the majority control of the State Legislature, both of New Jersey's U.S. Congressional Senate seats, and seven out of thirteen of the state's U.S. House of Representatives delegates.

The largest religious denomination in New Jersey is that of Catholicism, with 37% of state residents identifying themselves as following its religious practices. The second highest percentage of people, 15%, say they hold no religious affiliation at all. Though the percentages might seem small, at 4% and 1% respectively, New Jersey also has the largest Jewish population by percent and the second largest Muslim population by percent in the nation.

With rates ranging from 1.4 to 8.97%, the income tax of New Jersey is broken into seven different tax brackets. The state sales tax is currently 7%, though most food items for at-home preparation, footwear, clothing (with the exception of fur items), disposable paper products for home use, and medicines are exempt from this tax. In certain municipalities, designated as Urban Enterprise Zones or UEZs, shoppers are only changed half the sales tax, 3.5%. Approximately 30 of New Jersey's municipalities fall into this group.

A number of colleges and universities are stationed within the state of New Jersey. Some of these are:

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

• New Jersey's Science & Technology University

To find more information about universities and colleges in this area, visit the Online College Degrees page on this website.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "New Jersey".

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