New Jersey Institute of Technology


New Jersey Institute of Technology is a public research university in Newark, New Jersey, United States, with a graduate-degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local industrialists and inventors, especially Edward Weston, NJIT opened as Newark Technical School in 1885 with 88 students. As of fall 2022 the university enrolls 12,332 students from 92 countries, about 2,500 of whom live on its main campus in Newark's University Heights district.
NJIT offers 51 undergraduate majors and 71 graduate programs. Via its Honors College, it also offers professional programs in Healthcare and Law in collaboration with nearby institutions including Rutgers Medical School and Seton Hall Law School. Cross-registration with Rutgers University-Newark which borders its campus is also available. NJIT is classified among the "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It operates several off-campus facilities including the Big Bear Solar Observatory, home of the Goode Solar Telescope; the Owens Valley Radio Observatory ; and a suite of automated observatories across Antarctica, South America and the U.S.
NJIT is a member of the Sea grant and Space grant research consortia. It has participated in the McNair Scholars Program since 1999. NJIT is a designated Asian American Native American Pacific Islander serving institution and a designated Hispanic-serving institution.

History

Founding

The New Jersey Institute of Technology has a history dating back to the 19th century. Originally introduced from Essex County, New Jersey, on March 24, 1880, and revised with input from the Newark Board of Trade in 1881, an act of the New Jersey State Legislature drew up a contest to determine which municipality would become home to the state's urgently needed technical school. The challenge was straightforward: the state would stake "at least $3,000 and not more than $5,000" and the municipality that matched the state's investment would earn the right to establish the new school.

19th century

The Newark Board of Trade, working jointly with the Newark City Council, launched a campaign to win the new school. Many of the city's industrialists, along with other private citizens, supported the fund-raiser. By 1884 the necessary funds were raised. Newark Technical School opened its doors in February 1885.
The first 88 students, mostly evening students, attended classes in a rented building at 21 West Park Street. That facility soon became inadequate for the growing number of students. A second fundraiser, the institution's first capital campaign, was launched to support the construction of a home for Newark Technical School. In 1886, under the leadership of the school's first director, Charles A. Colton, the cornerstone was laid at the intersection of High Street and Summit Place for a three-story building later to be named Weston Hall in honor of the institution's early benefactor.

20th century

A laboratory building called Colton Hall was added to the campus in 1911.
Allan Cullimore led the institution from 1920 to 1949 transforming Newark Technical School into Newark College of Engineering, a name change that was adopted in 1930. Campbell Hall was erected in 1925. Due to the Depression and World War II, only the former Newark Orphan Asylum, now Eberhardt Hall, was purchased and modestly renovated in the succeeding decades. Cullimore left an unpublished history of the institution dated 1955.
In 1946, about 75% of the freshman class had served in the U. S. Armed Forces. Cullimore Hall was built in 1958 and two years later the old Weston Hall was razed and replaced with the current seven-story structure. Doctoral level programs were introduced in 1960. Six years later, in 1966, an, four-building expansion was completed.
With the addition of the New Jersey School of Architecture in 1973, the institution had evolved into a technological university, offering a widening range of graduate and undergraduate degrees and an increasing focus on research and public service. William Hazell, president at the time, decided the school's name should be changed to more clearly reflect its ongoing evolution. Alumni were solicited for suggestions. The winning suggestion was submitted by Joseph M. Anderson. Anderson's suggestion, New Jersey Institute of Technology, emphasized the increasing scope of educational and research initiatives at the institution. The Board of Trustees approved the name change in September 1974. Newark College of Engineering officially became New Jersey Institute of Technology on January 1, 1975. The Newark College of Engineering name was retained for NJIT's engineering school.
The establishment of a residential campus and the opening of NJIT's first dormitory in 1979 began a period of steady growth that continues today under an evolving Master Plan. Two new schools were established at the university during the 1980s, the College of Science and Liberal Arts in 1982 and the School of Industrial Management in 1988. The Albert Dorman Honors College was established in 1994, and the newest school, the College of Computing Sciences, was created in 2001. Also, three residential halls, Cypress, Oak, and Laurel which house about 1500 students in total, were placed in service in the 1990s.

21st century

On May 2, 2003, Robert Altenkirch was inaugurated as president. He succeeded Saul Fenster who was named the university's sixth president in 1978. In September 2011 Altenkirch elected to return to the South having been offered the presidency of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. On January 9, 2012, NJIT Trustees named Joel Bloom president.
In 2003, the opening of the new Campus Center on the site of the former Hazell Hall centralized campus social events. Construction of a new Atrium, Bookstore, Dining Hall, computer lab, Information Desk facility, and new student organization offices continued into 2004. In 2005 a row of automobile chop shops adjacent to campus were demolished. In 2006 construction of a near-campus residence hall by American Campus Communities began in the chop shops' location. The new hall, which opened in 2007, is dubbed the University Centre. In addition to NJIT students, it houses students from Rutgers-Newark, Seton Hall University and Rutgers Law School.
Also in 2005, Eberhardt Hall was fully renovated and re-inaugurated as the Alumni Center and the symbolic front door to the university. Its restored tower was the logo of the former Newark College of Engineering. A rebranding campaign with the current slogan, "NJIT – New Jersey's Science and Technology University – The Edge in Knowledge", was launched to emphasize NJIT's position as New Jersey's science-and-technology-focused public research university.
NJIT's business school, the Martin Tuchman School of Management, focuses on utilizing technology to serve business needs. The school, which is an AACSB-accredited business school, benefits from its proximity to New York City and lower Jersey City aka, "Wall Street West". Wall Street itself is twenty-five minutes away via Newark Light Rail and the PATH system's Newark-World Trade Center line. NJIT has a multi-faceted collaboration with its neighbor, Rutgers-Newark. The collaboration involves the Rutgers and NJIT business schools; their federated departments of Biology and History; and the joint Theater Arts Program. In 2008 NJIT began a program with the Heritage Institute of Technology in West Bengal, India under which 20 students come to NJIT for summer internships.
In 2009, the New Jersey School of Architecture was enlarged and reorganized as the College of Architecture and Design. Within the college, the New Jersey School of Architecture continues, along with the newly established School of Art + Design.
In June 2010, NJIT purchased the old Central High School building which is located between the NJIT and Rutgers–Newark campuses. With the completion of the purchase, Summit Street, from Warren Street to New Street, was converted into a pedestrian walkway. Since then the high school building was extensively renovated, preserved, and updated per the Campus Master Plan.
Between 2016 and 2018, several facilities opened, including a multi-purpose Wellness and Events Center, "The WEC", which features a retractable-seating arena that can accommodate 3,500 spectators or 4,000 event participants; a Life Sciences and Engineering Center; a Makerspace, and a parking garage with spaces for 933 cars.

Academics

Rankings

  • In U.S. News 2025 edition, NJIT is ranked tied for 80th in national universities.
  • In the 2024 edition of the Princeton Review NJIT was ranked 23rd in the list of the fifty best value public colleges in the US.
  • In June 2024, Money rated NJIT a 5-star institution.
  • In 2024, Washington Monthly ranked NJIT 101st among 438 national universities in the U.S. based on NJIT's contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.
  • In September 2023, the Wall Street Journal, using a more outcome-oriented methodology than in the past, ranked NJIT #2 among public universities and #19 among all national universities in its List of the Best Colleges in the U.S. for 2024.
  • In June 2022, a Money article titled "The Best 10 Colleges for Engineering Majors" cited NJIT for its economic mobility performance and ranked it 10th best in the country.
  • In the 2021 edition of the QS World University Ranking USA, NJIT was ranked 90th out of the 352 US Institutions listed.
  • In April 2018, Forbes ranked NJIT #1 in the country in upward mobility defined in terms of moving students from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top fifth. In the 2024-25 Forbes list of America's top colleges, NJIT was ranked 193rd out of the top 500 rated private and public colleges and universities in America for the 2024-25 report. NJIT was also ranked 88th among public colleges and 77th in the northeast.
  • In U.S. News 2018 rankings, four of NJIT's suite of on-line graduate programs were ranked among the best 100 in the country, including its information technology programs, which were ranked 17th.
  • In PayScale's 2017 College ROI Report, which covers 1833 institutions, NJIT ranked 27th and 42nd for return on investment, based on in-state and out-of-state tuition respectively.
  • NJIT placed 133rd out of 662 universities in the US in R&D expenditures in 2016 by the National Science Foundation.
  • In 2015, NJIT was ranked in the top 25 colleges for earning six figures before attaining a graduate degree in Time's Moneys list.