An Anchor Institution in New Jersey’s Largest City
Rutgers–Newark is a leading urban research university, internationally and nationally recognized for its scholarship in action and for its ability to propel economic prosperity and social mobility for each new generation. The university takes pride in being “In Newark, of Newark”—an anchor institution in the heart of New Jersey’s largest city, which is just minutes from midtown Manhattan.
A University of Opportunity
Top programs and a commitment to great futures
Top 10
Upward Social Mobility
#7
Criminology Graduate Program
Top 10
Diversity
#7
Public Affairs Graduate Program
From programs that lower or eliminate tuition for many students to an Honors Living-Learning Community that reconsiders the notions of talent and achievement to an on-campus restaurant that addresses food insecurity, Rutgers–Newark is committed to providing access to a first-class college experience that changes lives.
Jon Bon Jovi’s JBJ Soul Kitchen restaurant at Rutgers–Newark is a nonprofit community restaurant serving healthy, delicious meals to students, faculty, and community members who have the ability to pay, in addition to students who are in need. Diners can “pay-it-forward” with a $12 donation or a donated meal plan “swipe,” and students in need can also volunteer their time to cover the cost of a meal.
#1 Return on Investment
Rutgers–Newark leads the nation in return on investment among schools where more than 50 percent of students receive Pell Grants.—Colleges Where Low-Income Students Get the Highest "ROI," Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
Revolutionizing Honors
The Honors Living-Learning Community looks beyond grades and test scores to find academic talent.
Honors Living-Learning Community
Called "an honors college that honors grit" by The New York Times, the HLLC redefines what an honors college can be. Working together as a community of scholars, HLLC students strive to achieve academic excellence, help their peers flourish, and work to better society and advance the common good.
Outstanding Students
Top Tier Debate Team
The debate team is among the best, competing in top tournaments across the nation. The team has hosted major tournaments, including the North American Women and Gender Minorities Championship Tournament, the Brick City Round Robin, and the Rutgers University–Newark Invitational.
Winners: Privacy Challenge
A student and faculty team won first place in the Financial Crime Prevention track of the 2023 U.K.-U.S. Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETS) Prize Challenge, competing against world experts from academe, global tech companies, and privacy start-ups for a prize pool of $1.6 million .
White House Recognizes Rutgers Law School Students
Students and faculty of the Stop Evicting Newark Project were invited by the White House to recount their exemplary pro bono efforts to halt pandemic evictions in the city.
National Award for Outstanding Recent Grad
Rutgers–Newark graduate Mussab Ali, who in 2017 became the nation’s youngest Muslim elected official after winning a seat on the Jersey City school board, won a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans to help him complete his studies at Harvard Law School. He previously was awarded highly competitive Truman and Schwarzman scholarships.
Leading Faculty Recognized for Excellence
Pulitzer Prize in Criticism: Salamishah Tillet
Honored for her “learned and stylish writing about Black stories in art and popular culture—work that successfully bridges academic and nonacademic discourse,” Salamishah Tillet is a New York Times contributing critic at large; Henry Rutgers Professor of African American Studies and Creative Writing; and executive director of Express Newark, the Rutgers–Newark supported academic and community center for socially engaged art and design.
- Pulitzer for Salamishah Tillet
2022 National Book Award for Poetry: John Keene
Poems that “emanate a radiant kindness.” —The Nation, reviewing poet, MacArthur fellow, and Distinguished Professor John Keene’s Punks, winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry and 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry
- Lambda Literary Award for Poetry
Anthropology in Media Award: Alexander Hinton
Anthropologist Alex Hinton, director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers–Newark, won the American Anthropological Association’s 2022 Anthropology in Media Award, given to individuals who have raised public awareness of the field at the local, national, and international levels. Hinton is a world expert on “the killing fields” of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, which carried out one of the worst genocides in human history.
- Learn More about Alexander Hinton and His Work
National Expert on Race, Place, and Inequality: David Troutt
A Distinguished Professor of Law and founding director of the Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME), David Troutt's housing scarcity and affordability index is behind Newark’s Equitable Growth Advisory Commission. CLiME is a non-partisan research resource for students and the public interested in the growing challenges of municipalities and families trying to sustain middle-class outcomes amid growing fiscal constraints and rapid demographic change. The center's efforts promote more equitable approaches to public law and policy.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg taught at Rutgers Law School in Newark from 1963 to 1972, one of only two women law professors at Rutgers and one of a handful in the nation. A request from her Rutgers students to lead a seminar on women and the law launched Ginsburg’s journey to becoming a pioneer in women’s legal rights. In 1993, Justice Ginsburg became the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she served until her death in 2020. Today at Rutgers–Newark, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall is named in her honor. In 2023, Rutgers Law School received $6.5 million from the Stephanie and Harold Krieger Charitable Trust, one of the largest gifts in its history, to help establish the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Clinic.
- Learn more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Rutgers
In Newark, of Newark
From climate change to Alzheimer's disease to economic opportunity, working on society’s problems takes a commitment to research and creativity.As an anchor institution, Rutgers–Newark tackles local issues that resonate globally through innovative grants, community partnerships, and projects.
Studying High-Risk Dementia Populations
Partnering with churches and other Greater Newark organizations, the Aging and Brain Health Alliance at Rutgers studies populations with elevated dementia risk—especially African Americans, whose Alzheimer’s disease rates are especially high.
$2.8M Federal Grant Will Increase Digital Equity
Rutgers–Newark has been awarded a $2.8 million grant to increase digital equity in the city of Newark and on campus, part of a federal program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration for its Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.
Investing in Black and Latinx Entrepreneurs
Launched and operated by CUEED, the Black and Latino Angel Investment Fund works with investors committed to supporting New Jersey startups and growth companies owned by people of color.
Management Education for Economic Prosperity
The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development’s (CUEED) Ascend Newark program, funded by JPMorgan Chase and Prudential Financial, provides management education to Black and Latinx entrepreneurs, building wealth and inclusion in the tech sector.
Another Exciting Year for the Scarlet Raiders
The Scarlet Raiders had a great 2022–2023 season and going into 2023–2024 find women's soccer, women's volleyball, and men's soccer all tabbed in the top 10 in NJAC preseason polling.