Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is one of the leading universities in the nation. The university is made up of 29 degree-granting divisions; 12 undergraduate colleges, 11 graduate schools, and three schools offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Five are located in Camden, seven in Newark, and 14 in New Brunswick/Piscataway.

Rutgers has a unique history as a colonial college, a land-grant institution, and a state university. Chartered in 1766 as Queen's College, the eighth institution of higher learning to be founded in the colonies, the school opened its doors in New Brunswick in 1771 with a lone instructor, a single sophomore, and a handful of first-year students. During its early years, the college developed as a classic liberal arts institution. In 1825, the name of the college was changed to honor a former trustee and Revolutionary War veteran, Colonel Henry Rutgers.

Rutgers College became the land-grant college of New Jersey in 1864, resulting in the establishment of the Rutgers Scientific School, featuring departments of agriculture, engineering, and chemistry. Further expansion in the sciences came with the founding of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in 1880, the College of Engineering (now the School of Engineering) in 1914, and the College of Agriculture (now Cook College) in 1921. The precursors to several other Rutgers divisions were also established during this period: the College of Pharmacy (now the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy) in 1892, the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College) in 1918, and the School of Education in 1924.

Rutgers College assumed university status in 1924, and legislative acts in 1945 and 1956 designated all its divisions as The State University of New Jersey. During these years the university expanded significantly with the founding of an evening division - University College - in 1934 and the addition of the University of Newark (now Rutgers-Newark) in 1946 and the College of South Jersey at Camden (now Rutgers-Camden) in 1950.

Since the 1950's, Rutgers has continued to expand, especially in the area of graduate education. The Graduate School-New Brunswick, Graduate School-Newark, and Graduate School-Camden each serve their respective campuses. In addition, professional schools have been established in such areas as management, social work, criminal justice, applied and professional psychology, the fine arts, and communication, information and library studies. (A number of these schools offer undergraduate programs as well.) Also at the undergraduate level, Livingston College was founded in 1969, emphasizing the urban environment.

The first Summer Session began in 1913 with one six-week session. That summer program offered 47 courses and had an enrollment of 314 students. Currently, Summer Session offers over 1,000 courses to more than 15,000 students on the Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick/Piscataway campuses, off-campus, and abroad.

Today, Rutgers continues to grow, both in its facilities and in the variety and depth of its educational and research programs. The university's goals for the future include the continued provision of the highest quality education, along with the increased support of research and commitment to public service to meet the needs of society.