Rider University

Whether you know exactly what you want to do or are still figuring it out, you’ve come to the right place. Rider University provides the support to follow your drive and the freedom to explore your options. Rider's hands-on approach to engaged learning teaches students to think critically,communicate clearly and prepares them to serve as both leaders and team members. The University’s central location in New Jersey offers great opportunities for exploration, culture, leadership development, internships and jobs.

Our students are at the heart of everything that happens at Rider. The University's student-centered commitment begins with its engaged professors whose focus is on teaching and mentoring students. That commitment is shared by the entire University community, where every member is available to support students and their goals. It's a unique environment dedicated to giving students the self-confidence, skills and strong foundation essential for professional and personal success. Rider is a beautiful campus, but the connections, lessons, and feeling students’ find here will follow them anywhere.

Academic Excellence

At Rider, students can choose from 100+ undergraduate majors and minors and 50+ graduate programs through the Norm Brodsky College of Business, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Education and Human Sciences, and Westminster College of the Arts. Interdisciplinary majors are plentiful, and dual majors are encouraged.

Rider's professors are passionate about their disciplines, but teaching is their top priority. They are distinguished authors, educators, scholars, scientists, performing artists and researchers; an impressive 97% hold a doctorate or the highest degree in their field. With an average class size of 21 and a 10:1 student/faculty ratio, their classes are small and collaborative. Students are encouraged to join in discussions, express opinions and be creative problem-solvers. Communication skills and teamwork become integral to learning.

Learn to Love the Work

Rider University’s Engaged Learning Program combines your academics, career goals and personal interests to guide you through eye-opening, life-changing opportunities in nearby communities and all over the world. A valuable education depends on rich, hands-on experiences that expand horizons. Our students are encouraged to experience learning through impressive professional internships, student-faculty research, honors and study-abroad programs and volunteer experiences.

Rider students experiment in our state-of-the-art science labs, perform on stage, hold leadership roles on campus and work at the Rider TV station as early as freshman year. Education majors -- who are in classrooms by their sophomore year -- are guaranteed 700 hours of classroom experience through field placements. Each year, Rider students complete more than 1,000 internships, co-ops, and field placements as part of their degree studies. Rider's award-winning Model UN program, innovative Global Village class, and a wealth of study abroad and international partnership programs provide opportunities for students to experience the world in a new way.

Learning is enhanced by coursework that reflects the latest best practices and technology and guest lectures by leading experts. 

By building on these experiences, achievements, credentials, and contacts, Rider students discover what they love to do most -- and stand out from the competition when they graduate.

Which Way Will You Go?

Each of Rider's colleges has a career adviser who specializes in providing the support and preparation needed to move students from their majors to relevant careers. Students begin planning for the future in their first semester, using the expert resources of Career Development and Success to create a compelling professional portfolio and a targeted résumé.

Students also have opportunities to develop polished interview skills through interactive workshops and alumni videos, launch their job search through the 'Handshake' online portal, and shadow and network with Rider alumni. Rider also hosts career fairs attended each year by hundreds of employers who come to campus to recruit candidates.

Life Happens at Rider

Where the classroom leaves off, campus life fills in. Rider's vibrant and active campus community includes student government, more than 150 student organizations, fraternities and sororities, plus 20 NCAA Division I men's and women's teams, and 28 club and intramural sports.

Rider students are passionate about protecting the environment and volunteering in the community, too. Getting involved offers students the chance to inspire and lead others, manage budgets, plan successful events, and engage in "big picture thinking”.

There's No Such Thing as a Lone Bronc

The greatest legacy of a Rider education is measured by the success of its 60,000+ alumni. Our alumni use what they’ve learned to make their unique marks on the world, from Broadway to Johnson & Johnson, Fox Network to the New York Mets.

The outcomes of a Rider education are clear: 9 in 10 Rider graduates are employed full- or part-time, pursuing graduate study, or involved in a volunteer or fellowship position within six months of graduating. And, 250+ Rider alumni are presidents, CEOs, and leaders of national or international corporations or organizations.

Private and Affordable

Rider is proud to be private and affordable. Students benefit from the many advantages of Rider's private university experience -- and generous scholarship and financial aid programs that focus on making its "bottom line" costs extremely competitive with most public colleges and universities.

Financial aid is personal and tailored to each student's needs and circumstances -- starting with the assigning of a personal financial aid advisor to each student. Ninety-nine percent of Rider students receive various forms of financial aid and 98% receive Rider-funded scholarships and gift aid. The average annual student assistance package at Rider is $34,000.