Graduate School–New Brunswick
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.
Eighteen 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; nursing; 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 and the Graduate School–Camden,
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.
