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Rider University is a private institution of higher education located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Founded in 1865, Rider University began as Trenton Business College, and was established for the purpose of training leaders to serve in the new and booming industrialized economy following the Civil War. In 1896 the first female students were admitted and a year later the school was renamed The Rider Business College. In 1921 the school moved to East State Street in Trenton and shorted its name to Rider College – a name which lasted until 1994 when the institution was granted its university status. After expanding in both size and scope, Rider moved to its current spacious, 280-acre suburban campus in 1959. In 1992 Rider merged with the Westminster Choir College. Today, Rider University is a top ranking institution, earning accolades and recognitions from names such as U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review.
Academic Programs
Rider University vision is to “be a leader in American higher education celebrated for educating talented students for citizenship, life and career success in a diverse and interdependent world.” Rider’s mission as a “learner-centered University dedicated to the education of the whole student,” is to provide students with the “intellectual resources and breadth of student life opportunities of a comprehensive university with the personal attention and close student-faculty interactions of a liberal arts college.”Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education since 1955, Rider University offers nearly 70 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate-level programs in a wide range of areas. The University consists of several colleges, including the College of Business Administration, the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Sciences, the College of Continuing Studies, the School of Education, and the Westminster College of the Arts which Rider shares with the Westminster Choir College on the University’s Princeton campus. Taking a “rigorous, hands-on learning” approach to learning, Rider University offers plenty of opportunity for students to participate in internships, study abroad, and independent research.
Student Life
Rider University has a total enrollment figure of more than 5,000, including well over 4,000 undergraduate students. More than 80 foreign countries, two United States territories and nearly all states in the Union are represented in Rider’s student body. Rider University’s main Lawrenceville campus features more than 40 buildings, tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool and a lake. Student housing is offered through nearly two dozen residence halls.Rider University recognizes a variety of student-led clubs, organizations and groups on campus – including a vibrant Greek life presence – which caters to a wide range of interests and provides opportunities for students to interact with one another outside of the classroom and gain valuable leadership experience. A competitor within the NCAA Division I-AAA, the majority of Rider University’s athletic teams compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Boasting at least twenty sports – evenly divided between men’s and women’s teams- Rider University is also a member of the Eastern Wrestling League and the Eastern College Athletic Conference.