Graduate instruction at the university began in 1876 with courses at Rutgers College, which conferred its first doctor of philosophy degree in 1884. The college issued detailed regulations governing graduate degrees in 1912 and set up a separate graduate faculty in 1932. The Graduate School-New Brunswick was established in 1952. The expansion of graduate programs on the Newark and Camden campuses led to the formation of the Graduate School-Newark in 1974 and the Graduate School-Camden in 1981.

Seventeen units grant graduate degrees at the university. In addition to the three graduate schools mentioned above, there are schools offering graduate professional degrees in the arts; business; criminal justice; education; law; communication, information, and library studies; management and labor relations; planning and public policy; applied and professional psychology; and social work. The Graduate School-New Brunswick has faculties in the academic arts and sciences, as well as several professional fields. Together with the Graduate School-Newark, it is responsible for all philosophical degrees awarded by the university at the doctoral level. The school's enrollment of 3,600 students is distributed among 60 graduate programs, and its faculty comes from virtually all the university's academic divisions.

The traditional goal of undergraduate instruction is a liberal education in the arts and sciences, while the traditional goal of graduate instruction is an education that fosters creative research, criticism, and scholarship in a particular discipline. The two goals are complementary. Most members of the graduate faculty at the university teach both graduate and undergraduate courses and are as concerned with general education as with specialization. They know that a university is supposed to be an organization of men and women dedicated to bringing about advances in human knowledge. The measure of a university`s success is the degree to which its faculty and students are able to enrich the life of human societies.

The size of the graduate community stems from the large number of departmental and interdepartmental programs offered. Yet, actual enrollment is limited. Thus, the school can provide small classes and seminars in most degree programs, which permits close association between students and faculty members and encourages independent study. The graduate school stresses flexible programs to meet diverse student needs. Students and faculty members are engaged in the common pursuit of learning, and the Graduate School-New Brunswick encourages their joint exploration without imposing rigid, mechanical requirements.

Graduate students who earn their degrees at the university leave with a rigorous grounding in their disciplines and possess markedly broader intellectual experience and agility than they had when they began their studies. They will go into careers in the professions, industry, business, museums, research institutions, or into college or university teaching or other work with enhanced leadership abilities. They will carry with them the potential to contribute value to their own lives and to the lives of others.