Established in 1766, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the nation, the birthplace of college football and home to the Fat Darrell sandwich.
The school's flagship campus is Rutgers-New Brunswick, which is spread across five sub-campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway. Rutgers is huge, with about 37,000 undergraduates, over 140 majors, and 19 schools and colleges. The majority of students are from New Jersey, and about half of alumni still call the Garden State home.
Strongly rooted in liberal arts, Rutgers lays claim to some of the country's oldest programs in math and classics, and the university ranks as one of the top Fulbright Scholar-producing institutions. Student life is rich — there are more than 750 student-run clubs and organizations, including the country’s second-oldest collegiate newspaper and an organization that conducts free health screenings for underserved populations in surrounding communities.
Rutgers has a six-year graduation rate of 82%, according to Money's analysis, and graduates enjoy a median starting salary of nearly $78,000 four years after leaving school. The school's Scarlet Guarantee tuition assistance program covers up to 100% of the cost of tuition for first- and second-year students who meet the school's income and residency requirements.
