HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, the second-oldest in New Jersey (after Princeton University), and one of the nine U.S. colonial colleges that were chartered before the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.Stoeckel, Althea
"Presidents, professors, and politics: the colonial colleges and the American revolution"
, ''Conspectus of History'' (1976) 1(3):45–56.
In 1825, Queen's College was renamed Rutgers College in honor of Colonel Henry Rutgers, whose substantial gift to the school had stabilized its finances during a period of uncertainty. For most of its existence, Rutgers was a private liberal arts college but it has evolved into a
coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
al public research university after being designated The State University of New Jersey by the New Jersey Legislature via laws enacted in 1945 and 1956.State of New Jersey. New Jersey Statutes Annotated 18A:65–1 et seq. enacted by P.L. 1945, ch. 49, p. 115; P.L. 1956, ch. 61. Rutgers today has four distinct campuses;
Rutgers University–New Brunswick Rutgers University–New Brunswick is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's public research university. It is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. It is the oldest campus of the university, the others being in ...
(including grounds in adjacent Piscataway),
Rutgers University–Newark Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's State University. It is located in Newark. Rutgers, founded in 1766 in New Brunswick, is the eighth oldest college in the United States and a ...
, Rutgers University–Camden, and
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) is the umbrella organization for the schools and assets acquired by Rutgers University after the July 1, 2013 breakup of the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. While its variou ...
. The university has additional facilities elsewhere in the state, including oceanographic research facilities at the New Jersey shore. Rutgers is a land-grant, sea-grant, and
space-grant The space-grant colleges are educational institutions in the United States that comprise a network of fifty-two consortia formed for the purpose of outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the fifty states, the District o ...
university, as well as the largest university in the state. Instruction is offered by 9,000 faculty members in 175 academic departments to over 45,000 undergraduate students and more than 20,000 graduate and professional students. The university is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the
Big Ten Academic Alliance The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), is the academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference. The consortium was renamed on June 29, 2016. Member universities The Bi ...
, the
Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
Association of American Universitie
Association of American Universities
Retrieved August 6, 2006
and the Universities Research Association.


History


Colonial period

Two decades after the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University) was established in 1746 by the New Light Presbyterians, ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, seeking autonomy in ecclesiastical affairs in the American colonies, sought to establish a college to train those who wanted to become ministers within the church.And then there was Rutgers...
in ''The Daily Targum'' November 8, 2002. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
A Historical Sketch of Rutgers University
by Thomas J. Frusciano, University Archivist. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
Through several years of effort by the Rev.
Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen ( – ) was a Dutch-American Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed minister, theologian and the progenitor of the Frelinghuysen family in the United States of America. Frelinghuysen is most remembered for his ...
(1691–1747) and Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736–1790), later the college's first president, Queen's College received its charter on November 10, 1766, from New Jersey's last royal governor,
William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial Go ...
(1730–1813), the illegitimate son of Founding Father
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
. The original charter established the college under the corporate name ''the trustees of Queen's College, in New-Jersey'', named in honor of
Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...
(1744–1818), and created both the college and the Queen's College Grammar School, intended to be a preparatory school affiliated and governed by the college. The Grammar School, today the private
Rutgers Preparatory School Rutgers Preparatory School (also known as Rutgers Prep or RPS) is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1766. The school educates students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located on a campus along ...
, was a part of the college community until 1959. New Brunswick was chosen as the location over Hackensack because the New Brunswick Dutch had the support of the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
population, making the royal charter easier to obtain. The original purpose of Queen's College was to "educate the youth in language, liberal, the divinity, and useful arts and sciences" and for the training of future ministers for the Dutch Reformed Church. The college admitted its first students in 1771—a single sophomore and a handful of first-year students taught by a lone instructor—and granted its first degree in 1774, to Matthew Leydt. Despite the religious nature of the early college, the first classes were held at a
tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
called the Sign of the Red Lion. When the Revolutionary War broke out and taverns were suspected by the British as being hotbeds of rebel activity, the college abandoned the tavern and held classes in private homes. Like many colleges founded in the U.S. during this time, Rutgers benefited from slave labor and funds derived from purchasing and selling slaves. Research undertaken at the university in the 2010s began to prominently uncover and document these connections, including the university's foundation on land taken from the indigenous Lenape people.


Financial troubles and a benefactor

In its early years, due to a lack of funds, Queen's College was closed for two extended periods. Early trustees considered merging the college with the College of New Jersey, in Princeton (the measure failed by one vote) and later considered relocating to New York City. In 1808, after raising $12,000, the college temporarily reopened and broke ground on a building of its own, called "
Old Queens Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, wa ...
," designed by architect John McComb, Jr.Paths to Historic Rutgers: A Self-Guided Tour
, at Rutgers University. Retrieved August 9, 2006.
The college's third president, the Rev.
Ira Condict Ira Condict (February 21, 1764 – June 1, 1811) was an American Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed minister who served as the third president of Queen's College (now Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A 1784 graduate of the Colleg ...
, laid the cornerstone on April 27, 1809. Shortly after, the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784, relocated from
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...
, to New Brunswick, and shared facilities with Queen's College (and the Queen's College Grammar School, as all three institutions were then overseen by the Reformed Church in America). During those formative years, all three institutions fit into Old Queens. In 1830, the Queen's College Grammar School moved across the street, and in 1856, the seminary relocated to a seven-acre (28,000 m2) tract less than one-half mile (800 m) away. After several years of closure resulting from an economic depression after the War of 1812, Queen's College reopened in 1825 and was renamed "Rutgers College" in honor of
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
hero Colonel Henry Rutgers (1745–1830). According to the board of trustees, Colonel Rutgers was honored because he epitomized Christian values. A year after the school was renamed, it received two donations from its namesake: a $200 bell still hanging from the cupola of Old Queen's and a $5,000 bond () which placed the college on sound financial footing.


Land-grant college

Rutgers College became the land-grant college of New Jersey in 1864 under the Morrill Act of 1862, resulting in the establishment of the Rutgers Scientific School, featuring departments of
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
, engineering, and chemistry. The Rutgers Scientific School would expand over the years to grow into the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (1880) and divide into the
College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...
(1914) and the College of Agriculture (1921). Rutgers created the New Jersey College for Women in 1918, and the School of Education in 1924. With the development of graduate education, and the continued expansion of the institution, the collection of schools became Rutgers University in 1924. Rutgers College continued as a liberal arts college within the university. Later, University College (1945) was founded to serve part-time, commuting students and
Livingston College From 1969 to 2007 Livingston College was one of the residential colleges that comprised Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey's undergraduate liberal arts programs. It was located on Livingston Campus (originally Kilmer) in Piscataway, ...
(1969) was created by the Rutgers Trustees, ensuring that the interests of ethnically diverse New Jersey students were met.


State university

Rutgers was designated the state university of New Jersey by acts of the New Jersey Legislature in 1945 and 1956.N.J.S.A.
18A:65–1 et seq. (Public Law 1956, chapter 61) repealing and succeeding P.L. 1945, c.49, p.115. Retrieved August 8, 2006.
Although Rutgers thus became a public university, it still retains—as the successor to the private college founded and chartered in 1766—some important private rights and protections from unilateral state efforts to change its fundamental character and mission. The newly-designated state university absorbed the University of Newark (1935) in 1946 and then the College of South Jersey and South Jersey Law School, in 1950. These two institutions became
Rutgers University–Newark Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's State University. It is located in Newark. Rutgers, founded in 1766 in New Brunswick, is the eighth oldest college in the United States and a ...
and Rutgers University–Camden, respectively. On September 10, 1970, after much debate, the board of governors voted to admit women into Rutgers College. There were setbacks in the growth of the university. In 1967, the Rutgers Physics Department had a Centers of Excellence Grant from the NSF which allowed the physics department to hire several faculty each year. These faculty were to be paid by the grant for three years, but after that time any faculty hired with the associate or full professor designation would become tenured. The governor and the chancellor forced Rutgers to lose this grant by rejecting the condition that tenure be granted. In 1970, the newly formed Rutgers Medical School hired major faculty members from other institutions. In 1971, the governor's office separated Rutgers Medical School from Rutgers University and made it part of New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry, and many faculty left the medical school, including the dean of the medical school, Dr. Dewitt Stetten, who later became the director of the National Institutes of Health. As a result of the separation of the medical school from Rutgers University, graduate PhD programs that had been started in the medical center were lost, and students had to seek other institutions to finish their degrees. After the dissolution of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in 2013, the medical school again became part of the university.


1982–present

Prior to 1982, separate liberal arts faculties existed in the several separate "
residential college A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
s" (Rutgers, Douglass, Livingston, University, and Cook colleges) at Rutgers–New Brunswick. In 1982, under president
Edward J. Bloustein Edward Jerome Bloustein (January 20, 1925 – December 9, 1989) was the 17th President of Rutgers University serving from 1971 to 1989. Biography He was born in New York City, and he graduated from James Monroe High School in the Bronx in 19 ...
, the liberal arts faculties of these five institutions were centralized into one college, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which itself had no students. The separate residential colleges persisted for students, and while instructors for classes were now drawn from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, separate standards for admission, good standing, and graduation still continued for students, depending on which residential college they were enrolled in. In 2007, Rutgers New Brunswick, Douglass, Livingston, and University Colleges, along with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were merged into the new " School of Arts and Sciences" with one set of admissions criteria, curriculum, and graduation requirements. At this time, the liberal arts components of Cook College were absorbed into the School of Arts and Sciences as well, while the other aspects of that college remained, but as the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. These changes in 2007 ended the 241-year history of Rutgers College as a distinct institution. Students at the 2011 Rutgers tuition protests fought against rising education costs and diminished state subsidies. Campus groups (including the Rutgers Student Union, the Rutgers One Coalition and the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA), supported by New Jersey United Students (NJUS), mobilized to keep the increase in annual student financial obligation to a minimum through marches, sit-ins, letters to administration officials and forums. In 2011, there was an attempt by then New Jersey Governor
Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, Lobbying in the United States, lobbyist, and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New J ...
and members of the legislature to merge Rutgers-Camden into Rowan University, it ultimately was rejected in part due to several on campus protests and pushback from Camden faculty, students, and alumni. In 2013, most of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey was integrated with Rutgers University and, along with several existing Rutgers units, was reformed as
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) is the umbrella organization for the schools and assets acquired by Rutgers University after the July 1, 2013 breakup of the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. While its variou ...
. This merger attached the
New Jersey Medical School New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)—also known as Rutgers New Jersey Medical School—is a medical school of Rutgers University, a public research university in Newark, New Jersey. It has been part of the Rutgers Division of Biomedical and He ...
and
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with ...
to Rutgers University. On June 20, 2012, the outgoing president of Rutgers University, Richard L. McCormick, announced that Rutgers will "integrate five acres along George Street between Seminary Place and Bishop Place into the College Avenue Campus." Most of the block had been occupied by the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Rutgers agreed to rebuild the seminary in exchange for the land it gave up. In 2013, Rutgers changed part of its alma mater, "
On the Banks of the Old Raritan "On the Banks of the Old Raritan" is a song, or '' alma mater'', associated with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (previously Rutgers College and Rutgers University), in the United States. The original lyrics were written in 1873 by How ...
." Where the lyrics had stated, "My father sent me to old Rutgers, and resolved that I should be a man," now they state, "From far and near we came to Rutgers, and resolved to learn all that we can." The alma mater for the Camden campus "On the Banks of the Old Delaware" are lyrically similar aside from the river name. Rutgers celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2016. On May 15, President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
became the first sitting president to speak at the university's commencement. The university held a variety of celebrations, academic programs, and commemorative events which culminated on the 250th anniversary date, November 10, 2016. Rutgers invited multiple notable alumni from around the world to the celebration.
Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandol ...
was the commencement speaker the following year and received an honorary doctorate. In November 2016, Rutgers released research findings that revealed "an untold history of some of the institution's founders as slave owners and the displacement of the Native Americans who once occupied land that was later transferred to the college." In January 2020, Jonathan Holloway made history as the first African American and person of color to be named president of
Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
.


Organization and administration


University president

Since 1785, twenty-one men have served as the institution's president, beginning with the Reverend Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, a Dutch Reformed minister who was responsible for establishing the college.Frusciano, Thomas J. "Leadership on the Banks: Rutgers' Presidents, 1766–2004", in ''The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries'' LIII(1) (June 1991). Before 1930, most of the university's presidents were clergy affiliated with Christian denominations in the
Reformed tradition Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...
(either Dutch or
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
Reformed, or Presbyterian).Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Rutgers Leaders, Rutgers History: Past Presidents
. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
Two presidents were alumni of Rutgers College—the Rev. William H. S. Demarest (Class of 1883) and Philip Milledoler Brett (Class of 1892). The president serves in an ''
ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
'' capacity as a presiding officer within the university's 59-member board of trustees and its eleven-member board of governors, and is appointed by these boards to oversee day-to-day operations of the university across its campuses. He is charged with implementing "board policies with the help and advice of senior administrators and other members of the university community." The president is responsible only to those two governing boards—there is no oversight by state officials. Frequently, the president also occupies a professorship in his academic discipline and engages in instructing students. The current president is Dr. Jonathan Holloway who assumed the role on July 1, 2020.


Governing boards

Governance at Rutgers University rests with a board of trustees consisting of 41 members, and a board of governors consisting of 15 voting members: 8 appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and 7 chosen by and from among the board of trustees. accessed June 20, 2010. The trustees constitute chiefly an advisory body to the board of governors and are the fiduciary overseers of the property and assets of the university that existed before the institution became the State University of New Jersey in 1945. The initial reluctance of the trustees (still acting as a private corporate body) to cede control of certain business affairs to the state government for direction and oversight caused the state to establish the board of governors in 1956. Today, the board of governors maintains much of the corporate control of the university. The members of the board of trustees are voted upon by different constituencies or appointed. "Two faculty and two students are elected by the University Senate as nonvoting representatives. The 59 voting members are chosen in the following way as mandated by state law: 20 charter members (of whom at least three shall be women), 16 alumni members nominated by the nominating committee of the board of trustees, and five public members appointed by the governor of the state with confirmation by the New Jersey State Senate.


Affiliations

*
Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
* Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools *
Big Ten Academic Alliance The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA), formerly the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), is the academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference. The consortium was renamed on June 29, 2016. Member universities The Bi ...
* Universities Research Association *
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is a research, policy, and advocacy organization of public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and higher education organizations. It has member ca ...
*
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representat ...


Locations and divisions

Rutgers University has three campuses in New Jersey. The New Brunswick Campus, located in New Brunswick and adjacent Piscataway, is the largest campus of the university. The Newark Campus in Newark and the Camden Campus in Camden are located in the northern and southern parts of the state, respectively.Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey — Department of University Relations
Rutgers Editorial Style Guide
(revised July 1, 2013), page 5 ff.
Combined, these campuses comprise 33 degree-granting schools and colleges, offering undergraduate, graduate and professional levels of study. The university is centrally administered from New Brunswick, although chancellors at the Newark and Camden campuses hold significant autonomy for some academic issues.


Rutgers–New Brunswick

The New Brunswick Campus (or Rutgers–New Brunswick) is the largest campus and the site of the original Rutgers College. Spread across six municipalities in Middlesex County, New Jersey, it lies chiefly in the City of New Brunswick and adjacent Piscataway, and is composed of five smaller campuses and a few buildings in downtown New Brunswick. The historic College Avenue Campus is close to downtown New Brunswick and includes the seat of the university,
Old Queens Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, wa ...
and other nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century buildings that constitute the
Queens Campus The Queens Campus or Old Queens Campus is a historic section of the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the United States. The Queens Campus spans one city block on a hilltop ove ...
and Voorhees Mall. Its proximity to New Brunswick's train station and numerous food vendors located downtown, in addition to a large amount of off-campus housing and fraternity and sorority houses make this a popular weekend destination. Across the city, Douglass Campus and Cook Campus are intertwined with each other and are often referred to collectively as the Cook/Douglass Campus. Cook Campus has extensive farms and woods that reach into North Brunswick and East Brunswick. Separated by the Raritan River are
Busch Campus Busch Campus is one of the five sub-campuses at Rutgers University's New Brunswick/Piscataway area campus, and is located entirely within Piscataway, New Jersey, US. Academic facilities and departments centered on this campus are primarily those r ...
, in Piscataway, and Livingston Campus, also mainly in Piscataway but including remote sections of land extending into Edison and Highland Park. The Busch Campus is noted as the home of Rutgers' highly ranked Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, as well as the golf course and football stadium. The Livingston campus is home to Jersey Mike's Arena (formerly the Rutgers Athletic Center AC, a trapezoidal building which is home for many sports teams, notably the men's basketball team. Additionally, this campus has undergone many renovations and is regarded as the most "modern" campus. The campus entrance is delineated by the all-glass Rutgers Business School building known as "100 Rock" (because of the building's Piscataway address, 100 Rockafeller Road). From this building's fifth floor lounge, one can see the distant skyline of New York City on many clear days. Featuring (arguably) the best dining hall and top notch housing, Livingston attracts many students who may want a quieter city-life experience than the one on College Avenue. Rutgers Campus Buses transport students between the various campuses. As of 2010, the New Brunswick-Piscataway campuses include 19 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, including the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Communication and Information, the
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...
, the
School of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...
, the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy The Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy (EMSOP) is the pharmacy school of Rutgers University. It was founded in 1892 and merged with Rutgers University in 1927 as the Rutgers College of Pharmacy. In 1971, the school moved to its current location. In 2 ...
, the Graduate School, the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Management and Labor Relations,
Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is named for Mason W. Gross, the sixteenth president of Rutgers. Mason Gross offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, Theater, Digi ...
, the College of Nursing, the Rutgers Business School and the School of Social Work. , 40,434 students (31,593 undergraduates and 8,841 graduate students) were enrolled at the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus. The New Brunswick-Piscataway campus includes a Business School building on the Livingston Campus.


Rutgers–Newark

The Newark Campus (or Rutgers–Newark) consists of eight undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, including: Newark College of Arts and Sciences, University College, School of Criminal Justice, Graduate School, School of Nursing, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers Business School and the Newark location of the Rutgers Law School. , 7,666 undergraduates and 4,345 graduate students (total 12,011) are enrolled at the Newark campus. Originally the University of Newark, the campus became Rutgers-Newark in 1945.


Rutgers–Camden

The Camden Campus (or Rutgers–Camden) consists of six undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, including: Camden College of Arts and Sciences, University College, Graduate School, Rutgers School of Business – Camden, Rutgers School of Nursing - Camden, and the Camden location of the Rutgers Law School. The schools are located in the Cooper's Grant and Central Waterfront neighborhoods of Camden. , 4,708 undergraduates and 1,635 graduate students (total 6,343) are enrolled at the Camden campus. The campus was founded as the College of South Jersey and South Jersey Law School in the 1920s, and became part of Rutgers in 1950.


Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

The Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) is a division of the university that serves as an umbrella organization for schools, centers, and institutes from Rutgers University and the old
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...
. The organization was incorporated into the university following the 2013 merger of Rutgers and the UMDNJ. While its various facilities are spread across several locations statewide, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences is considered a "campus" for certain organizational purposes, such as the appointment of a separate chancellor. RBHS comprises nine schools and other research centers and institutes including; Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, New Jersey Medical School, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School,
School of Nursing Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
, School of Dental Medicine, School of Health Related Professions, the School of Public Health, Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Environmental and the Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Brain Health Institute, and the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. The programs are offered at different location sites across New Jersey in New Brunswick, Newark, Blackwood, Stratford and Scotch Plains.


Rutgers-Online

As of 2015, Rutgers offered a total of 11 fully online degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Online degree programs at Rutgers must meet the same academic expectations, in terms of both teaching and learning outcomes, as traditional on-campus programs. As of March 2020, a majority of courses are being conducted through remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Off-campus

Rutgers offers classes at several off-campus sites in affiliation with community colleges and other state colleges throughout New Jersey. These partnerships are designed to enable students to achieve a seamless transfer to Rutgers, and to take all of their Rutgers classes in a select number of the most popular majors at the community college campus. The collaborative effort provides access to Rutgers faculty teaching Rutgers courses, at a convenient location, but it is also one of the few programs that cater exclusively to the non-traditional student population. Rutgers' current partners include Atlantic Cape, Brookdale,
Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trade ...
,
Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Mani ...
, Camden, and
Raritan Valley Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation of Central New Jersey is a distinct administrative toponym. Geographic area and descriptions While the State of New Jersey is often divided into North and ...
community colleges.


Academics

The university offers more than 100 distinct bachelor, 100 master, and 80 doctoral and professional degree programs across 175 academic departments, 29 degree-granting schools and colleges, 16 of which offer graduate programs of study. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (1921), and in 1989, became a member of the
Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
, an organization of the 62 leading research universities in North America.Association of American Universities
AAU. Retrieved August 6, 2006
Rutgers–New Brunswick is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Rutgers–Newark and Rutgers–Camden are classified by the same organization as "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity."


Admissions


Undergraduate

'' U.S. News & World Report'' considers the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University to be a "more selective" school in terms of the rigor of its admissions processes. For the Class of 2025 (enrolling fall 2021), the New Brunswick campus received 43,161 applications and accepted 29,419 (68.2%). The number enrolling was 7,105; the yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enroll) was 24.2%. The freshman retention rate is 94%, with 83.8% going on to graduate within six years. Of the 45% of the incoming freshman class who submitted
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1240-1470. Of the 7% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 27 and 33. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is a college-sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 21 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 29 freshman students were
National Merit Scholars The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
.


Financial aid

As a state university, Rutgers charges two separate rates for tuition and fees depending on an enrolled student's residency. The ''Office of Institutional Research and Academic Planning'' estimates that costs in-state student of attending Rutgers would amount to $25,566 for an undergraduate living on-campus and $30,069 for a graduate student. For an out-of-state student, the costs rise to $38,228 and $39,069 respectively. As of the 2012–2013 academic school year, the cost of attendance for in-state students is $13,073, $26,393 for out-of-state students and $11,412 for Room and Board. In the 2010–2011 academic year, undergraduate students at Rutgers, through a combination of federal (53.5%), state (23.6%), university (18.1%), and private (4.8%) scholarship, loans, and grants, received $492,260,845 of
financial aid Student financial aid in the United States is funding that is available exclusively to students attending a post-secondary educational institution in the United States. This funding is used to assist in covering the many costs incurred in the p ...
. 81.4% of all undergraduates, or 34,473 students, received some form of financial aid. During the same period, graduate students, through a combination of federal (61.9%), state (1.8%), university (34.5%), and private (1.9%) scholarship, loans, and grants received $182,384,256 of financial aid. 81.5% of all graduate students, or 11,852 students received some form of financial aid. In 2007, the university's office for Enrollment Management launched the Rutgers Future Scholars Program as an initiative to help 7th graders from low-income families achieve academic success and be the first in their families to go to college. The program targets students from the school systems of Rutgers's hometowns, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Newark, and Camden. Once admitted, the students receive mentoring and college prep courses each summer leading up to the year of their college applications. If admitted to the university, they are given a full tuition scholarship for four years of undergraduate study. The program has been very successful and currently admits as many as 200 new 7th graders each year with the most of the original 200 now attending the university as undergraduates.


Rankings

In the 2021 '' U.S. News & World Report'' rankings of universities in the United States, the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers is tied for 63rd among national universities overall and ranked tied for 23rd among public universities. ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the Camden campus 148th among national universities, and 18th in top performers for social mobility. The same ranking placed Rutgers-New Brunswick in the top 25 among all U.S. universities for the following graduate school programs: Library Science (7th), English (15th),
Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
(23rd), History (21st) (with the subspecialties of
Women's History Women's history is the study of the role that women have played in history and the methods required to do so. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, personal achievement over a period of ...
and
African-American History African-American history began with the arrival of Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. Former Spanish slaves who had been freed by Francis Drake arrived aboard the Golden Hind at New Albion in California in 1579. The E ...
both ranked 1st), Social Work (17th), and Mathematics (22nd). U.S. News ranked Rutgers-Camden 58th for graduate nursing programs, and 83rd among graduate public policy programs. Rutgers University-New Brunswick has consistently ranked 2nd for Philosophy according the QS World University Rankings and the Philosophy Gourmet Report. QS also ranks Rutgers as number 42, nationally. The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) has Rutgers-New Brunswick ranked 29th nationally and 50th globally in 2020–2021. QS Top Universities ranked Rutgers-New Brunswick 264 in the world in 2022. ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranking placed Rutgers #130 in Best Global Universities with #47 in Agricultural Sciences, #45 in Arts and Humanities (tie), #61 in Mathematics, #66 in Cell Biology, #63 in Economics and Business, #99 in Computer Science, #37 in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and #23 in Food Science and Technology. The RBS Master of Quantitative Finance (M.Q.F.) program, and the Master of Mathematical Finance (M.S.M.F) program in the department of mathematics, are ranked 7th in the United States. Under the New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act of 2012, the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...
was dissolved. Most of its schools, including
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with ...
,
New Jersey Medical School New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)—also known as Rutgers New Jersey Medical School—is a medical school of Rutgers University, a public research university in Newark, New Jersey. It has been part of the Rutgers Division of Biomedical and He ...
, and
New Jersey Dental School The Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (formerly New Jersey Dental School) is the dental school of Rutgers University. It is one of several professional schools that form Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, a division of the university. Establ ...
, were merged into the new Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, formed in 2013.


Study abroad

Rutgers study abroad program has been offering opportunities for international study for over 50 years. Rutgers global offers more than 180 study and service-learning programs to more than 50 countries for all majors. These programs range from short term summer programs to long term semester programs. Often scholarships and financial support is offered to students who wish to study abroad. Rutgers also hosts students from universities around the globe.


Libraries

The Rutgers University Libraries (RUL) system consists of twenty-six libraries, centers and reading rooms located on the university's four campuses. Housing a collection that includes 4,383,848 volumes (print and electronic), 4,605,896 microforms, as well as a wide array of electronic indexes and abstracts, full-text electronic journals, and research guides, Rutgers University Libraries ranks among the nation's top research libraries.Library Facts and Figures
Accessed September 15, 2014
The
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
ranks the Rutgers University Library system as the 44th largest library in the United States in terms of volumes held. The Archibald S. Alexander Library in New Brunswick, known to many students as "Club Alex," is the oldest and the largest library of the university, and houses an extensive humanities and social science collection.Archibald S. Alexander Library Collection Description
Accessed January 10, 2007
It also supports the work of faculty and staff at four professional schools: the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the Graduate School of Education, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the School of Communication and Information. Alexander Library is also a Federal Depository Library, maintaining a large collection of government documents, which contains United States, New Jersey, foreign, and international government publications. The '' Paul Robeson Library'' in Camden, serves Rutgers affiliates as well as the Camden campuses of Rowan University and
Camden County College Camden County College (CCC) is a public community college in Camden County, New Jersey. Camden County College has its main campus in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, with satellite locations in Camden, Cherry Hill and Sicklervi ...
with a broad collection of volumes, and also houses an archive including the papers of poet
Nick Virgilio Nicholas Anthony Virgilio (June 28, 1928 – January 3, 1989) was an internationally recognized haiku poet who is credited with helping to popularize the Japanese style of poetry in the United States. Early life Virgilio was born in Camden, New ...
. The Dana Library is the main research library for the Newark campus, and is also home to the
Institute of Jazz Studies The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) is the largest and most comprehensive library and archives of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world. It is located on the fourth floor of the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers University–Newark in New ...
, one of the world's largest collections of jazz archives and research. The ''Library of Science and Medicine'' (LSM) on the Busch Campus in Piscataway houses the university's collection in
behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...
,
biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...
, earth, and
pharmaceutical science Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
s and engineering. LSM also serves as a designated depository library for government publication regarding science, and owns a U.S. patent collection and patent search facility. It was officially established as the Library of Science and Medicine in July 1964 although the beginning of the development of a library for science started in 1962. The current character of LSM is a university science library also serving a medical school.LSM History
accessed January 10, 2007
On the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus, in addition to Alexander Library, many individual disciplines have their own libraries, including Alcohol Studies,
Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
, Chemistry, Mathematics, Music, and Physics. ''Special Collections and University Archives'' houses the Sinclair New Jersey Collection, manuscript collection, and rare book collection, as well as the university
archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
. Although located in the Alexander Library building, Special Collections and University Archives actually comprises a distinct unit unto itself. Also located within the Alexander Library is the ''East Asian Library'' which holds a sizable collection of Chinese, Japanese and Korean monographs and periodicals. There are nine major libraries at the Rutgers- New Brunswick location which are the Alexander Library, Art Library, Carr Library, Chang Library, Douglass Library, Library of Science and Medicine, Math and Physics Library, School of Management and Labor Relations Library, and Special Collections & University Archives Library. Both the Newark and Camden campuses have law libraries. Individual items and collections within the Libraries can be identified using the Integrated Rutgers Information System.


Museums and collections

Rutgers oversees several museums and collections that are open to the public. *
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...
, on the College Avenue Campus maintains a collection of over 60,000 works of art, focusing on Russian and
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
art, French 19th-century art and
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
19th- and 20th-century art with a concentration on early-20th-century and contemporary prints. * Rutgers University Geology Museum in Geology Hall features exhibits on geology and
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
, with an emphasis on the natural history of New Jersey. The largest exhibits include a dinosaur
trackway Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways ...
from
Towaco, New Jersey Towaco is an unincorporated community located within Montville Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 07082. Its name reflects the Native American history in the area, wh ...
; a
mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the ...
from Salem County; and a Ptolemaic era Egyptian
mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
. * Rutgers Gardens, which features of horticultural, display, and
botanical gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, as well as
arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
s. * ''Stedman Art Gallery'' on the Camden campus is a collection of local, national, and international artwork and exhibits as part of the Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts. * ''Edison Papers,'' is a collection of roughly 5 million documents related to Thomas Alva Edison. Nearly 175,000 of these documents are digitized and available to be viewed through their website Rutgers' facilities across the four campuses include a golf course,
botanical gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
, working agricultural, horse, dairy, and sustainable farms, a creamery, an
ecological preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
with multiple use trails, television and radio studios, theaters, museums, athletic facilities, helipads, a makerspace, and more. The New Jersey Museum of Agriculture closed in 2011.


Research

Rutgers is home to the Rutgers University Center for Cognitive Science, also known as RUCCS. This research center hosts researchers in psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, electrical engineering, and
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
. It was at Rutgers that
Selman Waksman Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a Jewish Russian-born American inventor, Nobel Prize laureate, biochemist and microbiologist whose research into the decomposition of organisms that live in soil enabled the discover ...
(1888–1973) discovered several
antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention ...
s, including
actinomycin Dactinomycin, also known as actinomycin D, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes Wilms tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, trophoblastic neoplasm, testicular cancer, and certain types of ...
,
clavacin Patulin is an organic compound classified as a polyketide. It is a white powder soluble in acidic water and in organic solvents. It is a lactone that is heat-stable, so it is not destroyed by pasteurization or thermal denaturation.http://www.sig ...
, streptothricin, grisein, neomycin, fradicin,
candicidin Candicidin is an antifungal compound obtained from ''Streptomyces griseus''. It is active against some fungi including ''Candida albicans''. Candicidin is administered intravaginally in the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis. This bioactive c ...
, candidin, and others. Waksman, along with graduate student Albert Schatz (1920–2005), discovered streptomycin—a versatile antibiotic that was to be the first applied to cure tuberculosis. For this discovery, Waksman received the
Nobel Prize for Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Pr ...
in 1952. Rutgers developed water-soluble sustained release polymers, tetraploids, robotic hands, artificial bovine insemination, and the ceramic tiles for the heat shield on the Space Shuttle. In health related field, Rutgers has the Environmental & Occupational Health Science Institute (EOHSI). Rutgers is also home to the RCSB Protein Data bank, 'an information portal to Biological Macromolecular Structures' cohosted with the San Diego Supercomputer Center. This database is the authoritative research tool for bioinformaticists using protein primary, secondary and tertiary structures worldwide.' Rutgers is home to the Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension office, which is run by the Agricultural and Experiment Station with the support of local government. The institution provides research & education to the local farming and agro industrial community in 19 of the 21 counties of the state and educational outreach programs offered through the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Office of Continuing Professional Education. Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) is the largest university based repository in the world and has received awards worth more than $57.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). One will fund genetic studies of mental disorders and the other will support investigations into the causes of digestive, liver and kidney diseases, and diabetes. RUCDR activities will enable gene discovery leading to diagnoses, treatments and, eventually, cures for these diseases. RUCDR assists researchers throughout the world by providing the highest quality biomaterials, technical consultation, and logistical support. Rutgers–Camden is home to the nation's PhD granting Department of Childhood Studies. This department, in conjunction with the Center for Children and Childhood Studies, also on the Camden campus, conducts interdisciplinary research which combines methodologies and research practices of sociology, psychology, literature, anthropology and other disciplines into the study of childhoods internationally. Rutgers is home to several National Science Foundation IGERT fellowships that support interdisciplinary scientific research at the graduate-level. Highly selective fellowships are available in the following areas: Perceptual Science,
Stem Cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...
Science and Engineering, Nanotechnology for Clean Energy, Renewable and Sustainable Fuels Solutions, and Nanopharmaceutical Engineering. Rutgers also maintains the Office of Research Alliances that focuses on working with companies to increase engagement with the university's faculty members, staff and extensive resources on the four campuses.


Student life


Residential life

Rutgers University offers a variety of housing options. On the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus, students are given the option of on-campus housing in both traditional
dorm A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
s or apartments. Freshman students, however, are allowed only a dorm, while upperclassmen have a wider array of on-campus housing choices, like apartments, but must apply for on-campus housing through the Rutgers online lottery process. Most students seeking on-campus housing will be accommodated with a space and sophomores are guaranteed housing. Many Rutgers students opt to rent apartments or houses off-campus within the city of New Brunswick. Similar setups are to be found in Rutgers–Newark and Rutgers–Camden. Rutgers University's four campuses are in the culturally-diverse, redeveloping urban areas ( Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick) with convenient access to New York City and Philadelphia by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
, New Jersey Transit, as well as regional lines such as PATCO, or by automobile. '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Rutgers–Newark the most diverse university campus in the United States. Because the area of Rutgers' New Brunswick-Piscataway campus—which is composed of several constituent colleges and professional schools—is sprawled across six
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, the individual campuses are connected by an inter-campus bus system. The Rutgers bus system is the second largest bus service in New Jersey, and one of the largest in the country.


Security and emergency services

Services provided by the university include Rutgers Police, Emergency Medical Services, an emergency management office, bus and shuttle service, inter- and intra-campus mail, and occupational and environmental health and safety.


Student organizations and activities

Rutgers University has a student government which controls funding to student groups. The student government is made up of campus councils and professional school councils. Those councils then send representatives to the student assembly as well as the university senate. An example of these campus councils is the University College Council, which represents adult, part-time, and military veteran students. Rutgers hosts over 700 student organizations; among the first student groups was the first
college newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...
in the United States. ''The Political Intelligencer and New Jersey Adviser'' began publication at Queen's College in 1783, and ceased operation in 1785. Continuing this tradition is the university's current college newspaper, ''
The Daily Targum ''The Daily Targum'' is the official student newspaper of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Founded in 1869, it is the second-oldest collegiate newspaper in the United States. The ''Daily Targum'' is student written and managed, an ...
'', established in 1869, which is the second-oldest college newspaper published in the United States, after ''
The Dartmouth ''The Dartmouth'' is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College and America's oldest college newspaper. Originally named the ''Dartmouth Gazette'', the first issue was published on August 27, 1799, under the motto "Here range the world— ...
'' (1843). Both poet
Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled " Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in 1914. Though a prolific poet ...
and economist Milton Friedman served as editors. Also included are ''
The Medium ''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first profes ...
'', a weekly satirical newspaper billed as Rutgers Entertainment Weekly, ''
Rutgers Centurion ''The Centurion'' is a conservative online magazine focused on Rutgers University-New Brunswick campus life. Its motto is "veritas vos liberabit," which is Latin for " the truth shall set you free." The magazine attempts to counterbalance the p ...
'', a conservative newspaper, the ''
Rutgers University Glee Club Rutgers University Glee Club (RUGC) is a nationally recognized men's chorus based at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is currently conducted by Dr. Patrick Gardner. Dr. Patrick Gardner has directed the group since 1994. The Rut ...
'', a male
choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
singing group established in 1872 (among the oldest in the country). Rutgers a cappella groups have routinely placed well in the
International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), originally the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella ("NCCA", a play on NCAA), is an international competition that attracts hundreds of college ''a cappella'' groups each y ...
, including 2010 when The OrphanSporks placed second in the semifinals. Governed by the Rutgers University Student Assembly and funded by student fees, students can organize groups for practically any political ideology or issue, ethnic or religious affiliation, academic subject, activity, or hobby. Rutgers University is home to chapters of many Greek organizations, and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. Several fraternities and sororities maintain houses for their chapters in the area of Union Street (known familiarly as "Frat Row") in New Brunswick, within blocks of Rutgers' College Avenue Campus. Chapters of
Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a f ...
and Delta Phi organized at Rutgers as early as 1845. The Alpha Rho chapter of
Chi Psi Chi Psi () is a fraternity consisting of active chapters (known as "Alphas") at 33 American colleges and universities. The mission of Chi Psi is to create and maintain an enduring society which encourages the sharing of traditions and values, res ...
fraternity, founded at Rutgers College in 1879, was the first fraternity at Rutgers to own a fraternity house, or "Lodge," purchased in 1887. The fraternity today still owns and occupies the same property at 114 College Avenue. Today, there are over 50 fraternities and sororities on the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus, ranging from traditional to historically
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...
, Hispanic,
Multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
, and Asian interest organizations. The New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University has a chapter of the only active co-ed pre-medical fraternity,
Phi Delta Epsilon Phi Delta Epsilon () (commonly known as PhiDE) is a co-ed international medical fraternity and a member of the Professional Fraternity Association. History Phi Delta Epsilon was founded on October 13, 1904, at Cornell University Medical College. ...
, . Greek organizations are governed by the ''Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs''. Twelve organizations maintain chapters in New Brunswick without sanction by the university's administration. Students involved in Greek Life must meet academic eligibility requirements including maintaining a cumulative 2.5 GPA, completion of 12 credits, and be a currently enrolled full-time student. Some individual organizations hold a higher GPA requirement. Many Greek organizations hold fundraising events specific to their philanthropy. However, it's Rutgers tradition that our students participate in one of the largest student-run philanthropic events in New Jersey. All proceeds go to the non-profit organization, Embrace Kids Foundation. This foundation advocates for children with cancer and blood disorders. Dance Marathon includes over 400 dancers pledging to stay away and stand for 32 hours with the support and help of 500 volunteers. Dance Marathon 2015 collected a record-breaking $692,046.67. In the late 19th century, the university banned fraternities because of their unusual hazing practices. This caused them to go underground as secret societies. It also sparked the interest of some students to create their own societies.
Cap and Skull Cap and Skull is a senior-year coeducational honor society at Rutgers University, founded on January 18, 1900. Admission to Cap and Skull is dependent on excellence in academics, athletics, the arts, and public service. The organization conside ...
was founded at Rutgers before the turn of the 20th century. Rutgers has five vocal ensembles: Voorhees Choir (the New Brunswick campus's women's ensemble), Kirkpatrick Choir (the university's most selective coed ensemble), Glee Club (New Brunswick's most esteemed male ensemble), University Choir (a larger mixed choir in New Brunswick), and the Rutgers Concert Choir (Camden's vocal ensemble of faculty and students) In 2016, the Iota Psi chapter of
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
raised a national Greek record of $300,007 for the Children's Miracle Network with the help of seven sororities:
Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, making it the youngest member ...
,
Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a women's fraternity in the United States and Canada with over 250,000 initiated members. It has 150 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's executive office is in Columbus ...
, Gamma Phi Beta,
Phi Sigma Sigma Phi Sigma Sigma (), colloquially known as Phi Sig, was the first collegiate nonsectarian Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority to allow membership of women of all faiths and backgrounds. The sorority was founded on November 26, ...
,
Sigma Delta Tau Sigma Delta Tau () is an American sorority and member of the National Panhellenic Conference. Sigma Delta Tau was founded on March 25, 1917 at Cornell University by Jewish women. However, there is no religious requirement for membership to the ...
, Sigma Kappa, and Zeta Tau Alpha.


Traditions

The Grease Trucks are a group of truck-based food vendors located at various locations on the New Brunswick campus. They serve traditional grill fare, Middle-Eastern specialties, and are especially well known for serving "Fat Sandwiches," a sub roll containing various ingredients such as cheesesteak, burgers, pork roll, chicken fingers, French fries, mozzarella sticks, eggs, bacon, gyro meat, and marinara sauce. The Rutgers Grease Trucks were located in a designated lot for nearly two decades until August 2013. Truck owners were forced to relocate due to the construction of an $84-million student apartment complex. Three trucks remain on the College Avenue Campus, while the remaining two were moved to the Cook/Douglass Campus. The
Dance Marathon Dance marathons (or marathon dances) are events in which people dance or walk to music for an extended period of time. They started as dance contests in the 1920s and developed into entertainment events during the Great Depression in the 1930s. I ...
is a student-run organization that consists of a year-long series of fundraisers and culminates with the annual Marathon on April 5–6 in the College Avenue Gym. At the Marathon over 400 dancers pledge to raise funds and remain standing for 32 hours without sleeping. The 'Dancers', along with over 500 volunteers and countless visitors, are entertained by live bands, comedians, prize giveaways, games, sports, a mechanical bull, computer and internet access, various theme hours and much more. Rutgers has held this tradition since 1999 and to date has raised in excess of $1.3 million for the Embrace Kids Foundation. In the seventies the Dance Marathon raised funds for the American Cancer Society. In the Eighties it was the Rutger Cancer Research Association. 'RutgersFest was a day-long cultural event staged variously on either Livingston Campus or Busch Campus. It was designed to promote college spirit through student organization participation with activities and entertainment throughout the day, culminating with a free concert and fireworks at night. The event was free to all students and guests and was funded as part of an elected programming fee paid by all students as part of tuition. Past musical guests have included Kanye West, Everclear, Sugar Ray,
Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and fo ...
, Goldfinger, Ludacris, Reel Big Fish, Method Man and Redman, Fuel,
Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...
,
Hawthorne Heights Hawthorne Heights, formerly A Day in the Life, is an American rock band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2001. Their lineup currently consists of JT Woodruff (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Matt Ridenour (bass guitar, backing vocals), Mark McMillon ...
,
NAS Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...
,
SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force ...
, Ok Go,
N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Recor ...
and Pitbull. The event would feature carnival attractions such as bungee bull, bouncy boxing, moon walk, electronic basketball, a recording studio and more. Attendance for the annual event was about 40,000–50,000, topping out at an estimated 65,000 in 2004 at the event which featured Kanye West and Sugar Ray The event was staged by the Rutgers University Programming Association (RUPA), which used to be known as the Rutgers College Programming Committee (RCPC), as a year-end celebration before the start of the final examination period. During its final year in 2011, the festival was held on Busch Campus. Invited musical guests included Yelawolf, Pitbull, and
3OH!3 3OH!3 (pronounced "three oh three") is an American electronic music duo from Boulder, Colorado, made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. They are best known for their single " DONTTRUSTME" from their album ''Want'', which reached number s ...
. Several violent incidents that year lead to the indefinite cancellation of the event. President Richard McCormick, in a letter to the Rutgers community, commented: "The problems that occur following RutgersFest have grown beyond our capacity to manage them, and the only responsible course of action is to cancel the event." Rutgers Day is a campus and community celebration held annually on the Camden, New Brunswick, and Newark campuses. Many student houses also have mountains of trash, mimicking landfills. This is a tradition started by the Delafield House.


Colors, mottos and mascots

Rutgers University's only school color is scarlet. Students had sought to make
orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
the school color, citing Rutgers' Dutch heritage and in reference to the Prince of Orange. The Rutgers student publication ''Targum'' (which would become the ''Daily Targum'') proposed that scarlet be adopted in May 1869, claiming that it was a striking color and because scarlet ribbon was easily obtained. During the first intercollegiate football game with
Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
on November 6, 1869, the players from Rutgers wore scarlet-colored
turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promin ...
s and handkerchiefs to distinguish them as a team from the Princeton players. The board of trustees officially made scarlet the
school color School colors (also known as university colors or college colors) are the colors chosen by a school as part of its brand identity, used on building signage, web pages, branded apparel, and the uniforms of sports teams. They can promote connectio ...
in 1900. In its early days, Rutgers athletes were known informally as "The Scarlet" in reference to the school color, or as "Queensmen" in reference to the institution's first name, Queen's College. In 1925, the mascot was changed to Chanticleer, a fighting rooster from the medieval fable ''
Reynard the Fox Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, ...
'' (''Le Roman de Renart'') which was used by Geoffrey Chaucer in the ''
Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...
''. At the time, the student humour magazine at Rutgers was called ''Chanticleer'', and one of its early arts editors, Ozzie Nelson (later of '' The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' fame) was quarterback of the Rutgers team from 1924 to 1926.Scarlet Letter 1924 (Rutgers University yearbook), Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. The Chanticleer mascot was unveiled at a football game against Lafayette College, in which Lafayette was also introducing a new mascot, a
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
. However, the choice of Chanticleer as a mascot was often the subject of ridicule because of its association with "being chicken." In 1955, the mascot was changed to the Scarlet Knight after a campus-wide election, beating out other contenders such as "Queensmen," the "Scarlet," the "Red Lions," the "Redmen" and the "Flying Dutchmen."Tradition
at www.scarletknights.com. Published by Rutgers University Athletic Department (no further authorship information available), accessed September 10, 2006.
Earlier proposed nicknames included "Pioneers" and "Cannoneers." When
Harvey Harman Harvey John Harman (November 5, 1900 – December 17, 1969) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Haverford College (1922–1929), Sewanee: The University of the South (1930), the University of Pennsylvania (1 ...
, then coach of the football team, was asked why he supported changing the Rutgers mascot, he was quoted as saying, "Awnish You can call it the Chanticleer, you can call it a
fighting cock A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...
, you can call it any damn thing you want, but everybody knows it's a chicken." Harman later is said to have bought the first "Scarlet Knight" mascot costume for the 1955 season, which was to be his final season as football coach at Rutgers. In later years the Camden and Newark campuses adopted their own mascots, the Scarlet Raptor (Camden) and the Scarlet Raider (Newark).


Athletics

''(Note: The Rutgers–Camden athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raptors. The Rutgers–Newark athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raiders. The Scarlet Raiders and the Scarlet Raptors both compete within NCAA Division III.)'' Rutgers was among the first American institutions to engage in intercollegiate athletics, and participated in a small circle of schools that included Yale University, Columbia University and long-time rival, Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey). The four schools met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in Manhattan on October 19, 1873, to establish a set of rules governing their intercollegiate competition, and particularly to codify the new game of football. Although invited,
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...
chose not to attend. In the early years of intercollegiate athletics, the schools that participated in these athletic events were located solely in the American Northeast. However, by the turn of the 20th century, colleges and universities across the United States began to participate. Rutgers University is referred to as "the birthplace of college football" as the first
intercollegiate football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...
game was held on College Field between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869, in
New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city in and the seat of government of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.College Avenue Gymnasium College Avenue Gymnasium is an athletic facility on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is the second gymnasium built on the site. The first was built in 1892 on the site of College Field, the for ...
now stands. Rutgers won the game, with a score of 6 runs to Princeton's 4. According to
Parke H. Davis Parke Hill Davis (July 15, 1871 – June 5, 1934)"PARKE H. DAVIS BURIED.; Many Prominent Men at Funeral of Football Authority", special to ''The New York Times'', June 9, 1934 was an American football player, coach, and historian. Shortly befo ...
, the 1869 Rutgers football team shared the national title with Princeton. (This game is believed to have been closer to soccer than to modern American football.) In 1864, rowing became the first organized sport at Rutgers. Six mile races were held on the Raritan River among six-oared boats. In 1870, Rutgers held its first intercollegiate competition, against the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard, the then top-ranked amateur crew of the time. Since the start in 1864, Rutgers has built a strong crew program consisting of heavyweight and lightweight men. Women's crew was added to the program in 1974. Financial support of the men's crew program was discontinued by the university in 2006, though the crew continues to compete (funded entirely by alumni and private support) at a high level in the prestigious
Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges The Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) is a college athletic conference of eighteen men's college rowing crews. It is an affiliate of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). Members Eighteen colleges and universities are members ...
conference. The first intercollegiate athletic event at Rutgers was a baseball game on May 2, 1866, against Princeton in which they suffered a 40–2 loss.Rutgers Through the Years Timeline
at Rutgers University. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
Beginning in 1866, Rutgers was unaffiliated with any formal athletic conference and thus classified as "independent" for eighty years. From 1946 to 1951, the university was a member of the Middle Three Conference, and from 1958 to 1961, was a member of the
Middle Atlantic Conference The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) is an umbrella organization of three athletic conferences that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The 18 member colleges are in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The organization is divided into two main ...
.Rutgers football history database
at NationalChamps.net. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
In 1978, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights became a member of the Atlantic 10 conference. In 1991, it joined the
Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
for football. All sports programs at Rutgers New Brunswick subsequently became affiliated with the Big East in 1995. The first intercollegiate competition in Ultimate Frisbee (now called "Ultimate") was held between students from Rutgers and
Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
on November 6, 1972, to mark the one hundred third anniversary of the first intercollegiate football game. Rutgers won 29–27."Discography"
from ''Failure Magazine''. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's Basketball Team was among the "Final Four" and ended the 1976 season ranked fourth in the United States, after an 86–70 loss against the University of Michigan in the semifinals, and a 106–92 loss against
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in the consolation round of the
1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1976 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1976, and ended with the championship gam ...
. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are members of the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representat ...
, a collegiate athletic conference consisting of 14 colleges and universities from the
Midwestern The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...
and East Coast regions of the United States. The Big Ten Conference is a member of the
Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includ ...
. Rutgers currently fields 27 intercollegiate sports programs and is a Division I school as sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Rutgers fields thirty teams in NCAA Division I sanctioned sports, including football,
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved ...
, cross country, fencing, field hockey,
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...
, gymnastics,
lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, swimming and diving, wrestling, and volleyball. The Scarlet Knights have won five Big East Conference tournament titles: men's soccer (1997), men's track & field (2005),
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
(2000, 2007), and
women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
(2007). Several other teams have won regular season titles but failed to win the conference's championship tournament. published by the Big East Athletic Conference. Retrieved August 8, 2006. Although the Rutgers Scarlet Knights' football team had losing seasons in 2016 and 2015 (won-lost records of 2–10 and 4–8, respectively) it achieved success previously, being invited to the
Insight Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...
on December 27, 2005, in which they lost 45 to 40 against
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the U ...
. This was Rutgers' first bowl appearance since the December 16, 1978, loss against Arizona State, 34–18, at the
Garden State Bowl The Garden State Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, from 1978 until 1981.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997. P ...
. The 2006 football season also saw Rutgers being ranked within the Top 25 teams in major college football polls. After the November 9, 2006 victory over the 3rd ranked, undefeated
Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East C ...
, Rutgers jumped up to seventh in the
AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...
, eighth in the USA Today/Coaches poll, seventh in the Harris Interactive Poll, and sixth in the
Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includ ...
rankings. These were Rutgers' highest rankings in the football polls since they were ranked fifteenth in 1961. Rutgers ended the season 11–2 after winning the inaugural
Texas Bowl The Texas Bowl is an annual postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game first held in 2006 in Houston, Texas. Each edition of the bowl has been played at NRG Stadium, previously known as Reliant Stadium. The bowl replac ...
on December 28, 2006, defeating the Wildcats of Kansas State University by a score of 37–10 and finishing the season ranked twelfth in the final AP poll of sportswriters, the team's highest season-ending ranking. Under Head Coach
C. Vivian Stringer Charlaine Vivian Stringer (born March 16, 1948) is an American former basketball coach. She holds one of the best coaching records in the history of women's basketball. She was the head coach of the Rutgers University women's basketball team from ...
, the women's basketball program is among the elite programs in the country as they remain consistently ranked in the Top 25, consistently making the NCAA Women's Championship Tournament, and sometimes winning the Big East regular season championship. In 2006–2007, the Scarlet Knights won their first ever Big East Conference Tournament Championship. The program has been highly competitive since its inception, winning the 1982 AIAW National Championship, reaching the 2000 Final Four, and reaching the Final Four and national championship game in 2007. The Scarlet Knights maintain athletic rivalries with other collegiate institutions. The university has historic rivalries with Princeton University, Columbia University (formerly ''King's College''), Lafayette College, Lehigh University and New York University originating from the early days of college football. While they maintain this rivalry in other sports, neither of them has met in football since 1980. Rutgers has a basketball rivalry with
Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan u ...
. Penn State and the University of Maryland are the two schools with which Rutgers was developing rivalries with in the Big Ten. In the fall of 2007, six Rutgers New Brunswick/Piscataway NCAA Division I sports were discontinued by the university, including men's swimming and diving, men's heavyweight and lightweight crew, men's tennis, and men's and women's fencing. Some continued as club teams, while some were disbanded completely. The university claims this change was due to budget cuts, while others claim it was a politically motivated move designed to protest state funding changes. In November 2012, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, along with Louisville, Connecticut, and Cincinnati left the Big East to form the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athl ...
. Syracuse and Pittsburgh have decided to enter the Atlantic Coast Conference, while West Virginia entered the Big 12 conference, taking effect as of the 2012–2013 season. Rutgers decided to leave the American for the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representat ...
, effective July 1, 2014. Rutgers surpassed Penn State as the Big Ten's easternmost school. On March 23, 2019,
Nick Suriano Nicholas Raymond Suriano (born April 14, 1997) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms. In freestyle, he claimed the 2021 Henri Deglane Grand Prix gold medal and the 2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series s ...
and Anthony Ashnault won national titles for Rutgers Wrestling and provided Rutgers with their first 2 NCAA wrestling championships. In 2021, Rutgers men's basketball team was selected to participate in the NCAA tournament. This marked the program's first appearance in the tournament since 1991. In 2022, Rutgers men's lacrosse team was selected to participate in the NCAA Division I tournament. They defeated
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...
and the University of Pennsylvania to reach their first ever Final Four. Their season ended with a 17-10 loss to
Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
.


Notable people


Alumni

At Queen's College's first commencement in 1774, one graduate, Matthew Leydt, received his baccalaureate degree in a brief ceremony.Raven, John Howard (Rev.) (compiler).
Catalogue of the Officers and Alumni of Rutgers College (originally Queen's College) in New Brunswick, N.J., 1766–1916
''. (Trenton, New Jersey: State Gazette Publishing Company, 1916).
Rutgers alumni have been influential in many fields. Singer, athlete, attorney, and
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
activist Paul Robeson graduated in 1919 and is the namesake of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center on the Busch Campus, the Paul Robeson Library on the Camden Campus, and the Campus Center on the Newark Campus. Among the first students enrolled at Rutgers (when it was ''Queen's College''),
Simeon De Witt Simeon De Witt (December 25, 1756 – December 3, 1834) was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death. Life ...
(A.B. 1776) became the Surveyor-General for the Continental Army (1776–1783) during the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
and classmate
James Schureman James Schureman (February 12, 1756January 22, 1824) was an American merchant and statesman from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress as well as the United States House of Representatives and United Sta ...
(A.B. 1775), served in the Continental Congress and as a United States senator. Two alumni have been awarded Nobel prizes— Milton Friedman (A.B. 1932) in economics, and Selman A. Waksman (B.Sc. 1915, M.Sc.1916) in Medicine. Poet
Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of ...
(B.A. 1962) was appointed the nation's
poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
and novelist
Junot Díaz Junot Díaz (; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was fiction editor at ''Boston Review''. He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedo ...
(B.A. 1992) awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
in 2008. Seven alumni have served as New Jersey governor; two as president of Rutgers; Garret A. Hobart (A.B. 1863) as Vice President of the United States;
Louis Freeh Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001. Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Universi ...
(B.A. 1971, J.D. 1974) as director of the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
; Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (A.B. 1836) a U.S. Senator, as
U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's C ...
. Alumnus
Joseph P. Bradley Joseph Philo Bradley (March 14, 1813 – January 22, 1892) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1870 to 1892. He was also a member of the Electoral Commission that decided ...
(A.B. 1836) served for two decades as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and cast the tie-breaking vote on the bipartisan commission that decided the contested American presidential election in 1876. Diplomat Maria Fernanda Espinosa served as President of the United Nations General Assembly. Senators Elizabeth Warren (JD) and
Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale Biography In Context. A member of the Democratic Party, he was firs ...
(JD) both attended Rutgers Law School. In business, alumni include:
Bernard Marcus Bernard "Bernie" Marcus (born May 12, 1929) is an American billionaire businessman. He co-founded The Home Depot and was the company's first CEO, and chairman until retiring in 2002. Early life and education Bernard Marcus was born to Russian Je ...
(B.S. 1951), founder of hardware retail company Home Depot; Bill Rasmussen (MBA 1960), founder of
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...
; and Duncan MacMillan (B.S. 1966), co-founder of financial data and media company
Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, and a ...
In science and technology, alumni include:
Peter C. Schultz Peter C. Schultz, Ph.D. (born 1942), is co-inventor of the fiber optics now used worldwide for telecommunications. He is retired President (1988 to 2001) of Heraeus Tenevo Inc., a $200 million technical glass manufacturer specializing in fiber opt ...
(B.S. 1967), co-inventor of fiber optics; molecular geneticist Angela Christiano (PhD 1991); geneticist Stanley N. Cohen (B.Sc. 1956) who pioneered in the field of
gene splicing Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be foun ...
; physician Howard Krein; and
Louis Gluck Louis Gluck (1924–1997) was an American neonatologist who made many important contributions to the care of newborns, and who is considered "the father of neonatology." Career overview Gluck designed the modern neonatal intensive care unit (N ...
(B.S. 1930) the "father of neonatology." Alumni prominent in entertainment include actor
James Gandolfini James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen ...
(B.A. 1983) (
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
); chef
Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and N ...
(B.A. 1982); David Stern (B.A. 1963), former commissioner of the National Basketball Association; Henry Selick, film director ( Disney's
The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick (in his feature directorial debut) and produced and ...
); actor
Michael Sorvino Michael Ernest Sorvino (born November 21, 1977) is an American actor and producer. He is best known as the voice of Tommy Angelo, the protagonist in ''Mafia''. His other acting roles include parts in ''Summer of Sam'', '' The Trouble with Cali ...
; author Holly Black; actor Sebastian Stan ( Captain America: The Winter Soldier); cartoon character
Mr Magoo Mr. Magoo (known by his full name: J. Quincy Magoo) is a fictional cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical ...
; actress Jessica Darrow ( Encanto); voice actor John DiMaggio ( Futurama,
Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
); soccer player/commentator
Alexi Lalas Panayotis Alexander "Alexi" Lalas ( el, Αλέξης Λάλας; born June 1, 1970) is an American retired soccer player who played mostly as a defender. Lalas is best known for his participation with the United States men's national soccer te ...
, and actress
Kristin Davis Kristin Landen Davis (also listed as Kristin Lee Davis; born February 23, 1965) is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO romantic comedy series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004). She ...
( Sex and the City).


Faculty

65,000 undergraduate and graduate students currently study at Rutgers, instructed by more than 9,000 full-time and part-time faculty and supported by more than 15,000 full-time and part-time staff members.Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
"Numbers, Statistics and Stories to Tell: Facts & Figures
. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
Former law professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020) served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. During his 20-year tenure at Rutgers,
David Levering Lewis David Levering Lewis (born May 25, 1936) is an American historian, a Julius Silver University Professor, and a professor of history at New York University. He is twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, for part one and ...
, a former history professor, was twice awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...
(1994 and 2001) for both volumes of his
biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
of W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) and was also the winner of the
Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
and the
Francis Parkman Prize The Francis Parkman Prize, named after Francis Parkman, is awarded by the Society of American Historians for the best book in American history each year. Its purpose is to promote literary distinction in historical writing. The Society of American ...
. Poet
Gregory Pardlo Gregory Pardlo (born November 24, 1968) is an American poet, writer, and professor. His book ''Digest'' won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His poems, reviews, and translations have appeared in ''The American Poetry Review'', '' Callaloo'', '' ...
won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, he is both an alumnus and faculty member at the Camden campus.
Michael R. Douglas Michael R. Douglas (born November 19, 1961) is an American theoretical physicist, best known for his work in string theory and mathematical physics. Biography Douglas was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Nancy and Ronald G. Douglas, a m ...
, a prominent
string theorist In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and intera ...
and the director of the New High Energy Theory Center and winner of the
Sackler Prize The Sackler Prize can indicate any of the following three awards established by Raymond Sackler and his wife Beverly Sackler currently bestowed by the Tel Aviv University. Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences The Raymond and Beverly Sackler In ...
in theoretical physics in 2000. Noted chef and restaurateur Maricel Presilla taught in the history department at
Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
.
Avery Brooks Avery Franklin Brooks (born October 2, 1948) is an American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator. He is best known for his television roles as Captain Benjamin Sisko on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', as Hawk on '' Spenser: For Hire'' ...
, a Rutgers graduate, taught at
Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is named for Mason W. Gross, the sixteenth president of Rutgers. Mason Gross offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, Theater, Digi ...
. Literature scholar Ankhi Mukherjee now at University of Oxford won the
Rose Mary Crawshay prize The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize is a literary prize for female scholars, inaugurated in 1888 by the British Academy. Description The prize, set up in 1888, is said by the British Academy to be the only UK literary prize specifically for female sch ...
. Jerry Fodor, Zenon Pylyshyn, Stephen Stich and Frances Egan were awarded the
Jean Nicod Prize The Jean Nicod Prize is awarded annually in Paris to a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist. The lectures are organized by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of its effort to promote in ...
in philosophy and cognitive science. Many other members of the faculty have received the highest awards in their fields, including Guggenheim and MacArthur "Genius Award" fellowships, Pulitzer Prize winners, National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology recipients, a National Endowment for the Arts "Jazz Master," amongst others. , 37 science, engineering and medical faculty are members of the four "National Academies"—the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council.Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
"Rutgers Outstanding Thinkers: Members of the National Academies"
. Retrieved October 29, 2013.


See also

* 2011 Rutgers tuition protests * The 2012 Project * List of American state universities * List of Rutgers University people * List of Rutgers University presidents * List of colleges and universities in New Jersey


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* H.M. Berman, J. Westbrook, Z. Feng, G. Gilliland, T.N. Bhat, H. Weissig, I.N. Shindyalov, P.E. Bourne: The Protein Data Bank. Nucleic Acids Research, 28, pp. 235–242 (2000). * Demarest, William Henry Steele. ''History of Rutgers College: 1776–1924.'' (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers College, 1924). * ''History of Rutgers College: or an account of the union of Rutgers College, and the Theological Seminary of the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church. Prepared and published at the request of several trustees of the College, by a trustee.'' (New York: Anderson & Smith, 1833). * Lukac, George J. (ed.), ''Aloud to Alma Mater.'' (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1966), 70–73. * McCormick, Richard P. ''Rutgers: a Bicentennial History''. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1966). * Schmidt, George P. ''Princeton and Rutgers: The Two Colonial Colleges of New Jersey''. (Princeton, New Jersey: Van Nostrand, 1964).


External links

*
Official Home of the Scarlet Knights

Official Home of the Scarlet Raiders

Official Home of the Scarlet Raptors
* 1937–. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutgers University Rutgers University, 1766 establishments in New Jersey Colonial colleges Educational institutions established in 1766 Flagship universities in the United States, Rutgers Land-grant universities and colleges Universities and colleges in Camden County, New Jersey Universities and colleges in Essex County, New Jersey Universities and colleges in Middlesex County, New Jersey Public universities and colleges in New Jersey Robert A. M. Stern buildings