The Graduate School-Newark is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in an environment that encourages scholarly inquiry and intellectual growth. The school expects its graduate students to obtain a thorough understanding of their chosen academic disciplines and to acquire the analytical and creative skills required for original scholarship, research, and problem solving.

The Graduate School-Newark, with its own faculty and dean, was established in December 1975, but the history of graduate study in Newark goes back much further. Before 1975, the Graduate School-New Brunswick administered graduate programs in the arts and sciences on the Newark campus. In the 1950s, the university added master`s and doctoral programs in psychology in Newark. Between 1965 and 1972, the Newark campus started master`s level programs in economics, English, geological sciences, history, and political science.

The growth became even more dramatic after the graduate education in Newark became an independent entity. The Graduate School-Newark now offers master`s programs in liberal studies, jazz history and research, nursing, public administration, biology, chemistry, global affairs, international studies, applied physics, and public health. The school has Ph.D. programs in chemistry, criminal justice, biology, behavioral and neural sciences, management, nursing, mathematical sciences, applied physics, and public administration.

Several degrees are offered jointly with other institutions. Working with New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Graduate School-Newark confers M.A. and M.A.T. degrees in history, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biology, an M.S. in computational biology, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental science, an M.S. and Ph.D. in applied physics, and a Ph.D. in mathematical sciences. The Graduate School- Newark and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School (UMDNJ-NJMS) offer an M.D./Ph.D. dual degree. In collaboration with the Public Health Research Institute, the Graduate School- Newark, UMDNJ-School of Public Health, and New Jersey Institute of Technology offer a master of public health degree. Finally, a Ph.D. in urban systems is offered jointly by New Jersey Institute of Technology; Rutgers` Graduate School-Newark; and the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.