Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Public · Moderately Selective · NJ

Photo: Rickyrab (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationNJ · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads37,751

Student:faculty16:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate69%

6-yr grad rate83.6%

Drop-out rate7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$18k

Out-of-state tuition$37k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity70.1%

Gender diversity50.1%

International7.3%

Identity—

Overview

Rutgers-New Brunswick is the flagship of New Jersey's state university system and one of the oldest colleges in the country, chartered in 1766 as Queen's College. As a major research university and Big Ten member, it combines a large public-university scale with the historic weight of a colonial-era institution, one of the original nine colonial colleges. Few public universities anywhere can claim that combination of scale, research intensity, and sheer institutional age.

Academics

Pharmacy, engineering, business, and the sciences are among Rutgers's strongest programs, backed by substantial research funding and close ties to New Jersey's dense pharmaceutical and biotech corridor. The Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy is nationally regarded, and the School of Arts and Sciences gives the university's scale a real advantage: an unusually wide range of majors, minors, and undergraduate research opportunities for students who seek them out. Journalism, labor relations, and the performing arts through Mason Gross School of the Arts also have distinct reputations.

Campus & student life

The campus is organized into several distinct sub-campuses, College Avenue, Busch, Livingston, and Cook/Douglass, strung along the Raritan River and connected by a famously heavily used bus system, which gives students both a big-university social scene and smaller, more residential-feeling communities within each campus. Big Ten athletics, especially football at SHI Stadium, add a significant layer of school spirit and campus energy that grew considerably after Rutgers joined the conference. Students often develop a strong sense of identity tied to their particular sub-campus as much as to Rutgers as a whole.

Getting in

Admission is holistic and competitive, particularly for standout programs like pharmacy, engineering, and business, with New Jersey residency giving in-state applicants a notable numbers advantage in an otherwise nationally diverse applicant pool. Direct admission to specific schools, like pharmacy or the honors college, often requires a stronger record than general admission to Rutgers overall.

After graduation

New Jersey's dense pharmaceutical, biotech, and financial sectors give Rutgers graduates strong regional placement, and the university's large, well-connected alumni base spans both the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan job markets. Pharmacy graduates in particular benefit from the state's concentration of major drug companies, and the university's size means alumni networks reach deep into nearly every industry and profession in the region.

Worth knowing

Rutgers's sub-campus structure means the day-to-day experience can vary noticeably depending on where a student lives and takes classes, and prospective students should pay attention to which sub-campus their intended major is based on. As one of the nine original colonial colleges, Rutgers also carries a genuine historical weight, chartered before the American Revolution, that's easy to overlook given its modern identity as a large public research university.

rutgers.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate58.1%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1310–1500 · ACT 28–33

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Regular decisionDec 1

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App or Own application.

Priority / scholarshipDec 1

Early Action is non-binding; the December 1 regular deadline is also the priority deadline for honors and merit-based scholarship consideration.

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗