2025 College Rankings

Rutgers University–New Brunswick exhibits many of the worst trends in higher education, despite its reputation as a top school. Its administrative failures—on free speech, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and, more recently, radical anti-Semitism—mark it as a case study in institutional decline.

The administration shows little regard for free expression. It maintains a bias-response system to police speech deemed offensive, and only 20 percent of students told the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) that the university would “extremely” or “very” likely defend a speaker’s right to express controversial views. FIRE gives Rutgers a “yellow” speech code rating, indicating that its policies are prone to abuse. Unsurprisingly, the administration embraces other activist causes as well. Rutgers has not adopted a policy of institutional neutrality and regularly involves itself in matters unrelated to education—issuing land acknowledgments and indulging in administrative support of preferred pronouns.

Unsurprisingly, the faculty leans heavily in one direction. On an ideological scale where 1 is “very liberal” and 7 is “very conservative,” students rate their professors at an average of 2.7. Ninety-eight percent of faculty campaign donations go to liberal or Democratic causes, and few professors belong to organizations that promote free inquiry on campus.

The student body is somewhat more ideologically mixed, with a little more than two liberal students for every conservative. Still, many students report that community life on campus is lacking—we rank Rutgers in the bottom 10 percent for community satisfaction. That discontent may stem, at least in part, from a stifling speech environment: more than half of students tell FIRE that they censor themselves at least once a month.

Rutgers has seen numerous attempts to de-platform campus speakers over the past five years, some of them successful. One of the most notable, and troubling, incidents occurred last year, when radical anti-Semitic protesters disrupted a campus town hall and shouted down university president Jonathan Holloway. The demonstration grew so unruly that police escorted Holloway off the stage and later led Jewish students away for their safety. Holloway resigned a few months later. Such scenes reflect a deeper, ongoing problem of extreme anti-Semitism at Rutgers. These views are particularly pronounced among faculty, many of whom have called on the university to support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. The administration has done little to address the issue; in spring 2025, the federal government announced an investigation into the university’s inaction.

The curriculum at Rutgers is poor. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the university a D in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. Students are dissatisfied with teaching quality overall—we rank Rutgers in the bottom 10 percent for classroom experience.

Graduate outcomes are mixed: while median annual earnings ten years after enrollment fall slightly below projections, it takes just 1.9 years, on average, to recoup the cost of a Rutgers education, well below the national average of 2.3 years. It exceeds expectations in both retention and six-year graduation rates, based on data from SAT scores and Pell Grant recipients.