The premier public university of New Jersey and one of the oldest and most highly regarded institutions of higher education in the nation. With nearly 50,000 students and over 9,000 faculty and staff on its three campuses in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick, Rutgers is a vibrant academic community committed to the highest standards of teaching, research, and service.
Chartered in 1766 as Queen’s College, the nation’s eighth institution of higher learning, Rutgers is one of only nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution. Soon after opening in New Brunswick in 1771—with one instructor and a handful of students—the college was caught up in the struggle for independence. During the war, classes were suspended on several occasions as students, faculty, and alumni joined the fight for freedom. That revolutionary legacy is preserved today in the university’s name; in 1825, Queen’s College became Rutgers College to honor trustee and Revolutionary War veteran Colonel Henry Rutgers.
In 1924, Rutgers College officially became Rutgers University; a reflection of the institution’s rapidly expanding number of schools and academic programs. Early in the century, Rutgers had begun offering educational opportunities to women when the New Jersey College for Women (later Douglass College) was founded in 1918, and to adult learners when University College was established in 1934. After World War II, enrollment exploded as Rutgers admitted all qualified candidates under the GI Bill. Rutgers was becoming an institution for all people, and in 1945 and 1956, state legislative acts formally designated Rutgers as The State University of New Jersey.
A flurry of expansion ensued. The University of Newark (now Rutgers–Newark) joined Rutgers in 1946, followed by the College of South Jersey (now Rutgers–Camden) in 1950. An ambitious building program added libraries, classrooms, and student housing across the three regional campuses. In 1969, Livingston College opened, providing a coeducational residential experience with a special commitment to diversity. Graduate education in the arts and sciences grew through the establishment of the Graduate School–New Brunswick, the Graduate School–Newark, and the Graduate School–Camden. Professional schools were formed to serve students in the fields of business; communication, information, and library studies; criminal justice; education; fine arts; law; management and labor relations; nursing; planning and public policy; psychology; public affairs and administration; and social work. Meanwhile, as industry and government sought partners in solving problems and advancing knowledge, the concept of the research university emerged.
website: http://www.rutgers.edu