The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey is an innovative, residential, liberal arts institution noted for its distinctive academic programs, interdisciplinary approach to learning, and high standards. We have for several years been listed as one of the top five public liberal arts colleges in the U.S. News and World Report's national rankings. Our mission is to provide quality, excellence, and access to a diverse student population. The college serves primarily the educational needs of students along the Jersey shore in the southern part of the state, but attracts students from throughout the region. Our faculty come from throughout the nation and the world.

Quality Programs

Founded in 1969 and part of the New Jersey College System (a system that provides local Boards of Trustees autonomy in most decision-making), Stockton has partnered with major national organizations and institutions in innovative educational programming and community involvement. Examples of such organizations include the National Science Foundation, the Bildner Family Fund, AAC&U, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the New York Times.

Primarily an undergraduate institution, we offer selected Master's programs, largely in professional areas. The College offers twenty-seven bachelor's and seven master's degree programs, each designed to challenge the best and brightest -- our students. Our focus is to provide a rich intellectual experience from orientation day to commencement. We seek to ensure that our graduates will be equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century, in the workplace as well as in their roles as citizens and in living fulfilling personal lives.

In addition to our traditional academic programs we are engaged across the college in enhancing civic involvement among our students, volunteerism and service learning, and building an appreciation for diversity and multiculturalism. Students have a range of experiential learning opportunities including such things as internships and practica, field placements, service learning, and study abroad. Stockton students regularly participate in the Washington Internship program.

Stockton's student-centered and interdisciplinary approach to learning is exemplified in its separate General Studies curriculum, to which all faculty contribute. Opportunities for faculty to create new courses, even outside their formal academic disciplines, are supported through the General Studies curriculum. We have both writing across the curriculum and quantitative reasoning across the disciplines requirements, and are turning our attention toward enhancing information literacy among our students.

Outstanding Faculty

The College has recruited a faculty with fine credentials, featuring degrees from top graduate schools around the nation and the world. Many of them are important contributors to knowledge in their respective disciplines. At the same time, they are selected for their commitment to excellence in teaching and dedication to students. Small classes, independent study, and student participation in faculty research are among the measures in place to assure that our students benefit from close contact with the faculty.

Stockton's distinguished faculty, of which 94 percent hold terminal degrees, has been recognized for its outstanding accomplishments, such as the awarding of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry to Stephen Dunn and a Guggenheim Fellowship to Wendel A. White in 2003.

Stockton offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits for its faculty who are represented under a Statewide AFT collective bargaining agreement. The faculty teaching load is 12 credits per semester (normally three 4-credit courses), which includes General Studies courses. Faculty are expected to be excellent classroom teachers and also to work independently with students in research projects, independent study courses and an individualized academic advising program, which has also been nationally recognized. Faculty must also maintain an ongoing program of scholarly activity.

Lively and Involved Students

The Stockton student body of some 7,000, with 83 percent attending full-time, is comprised of 54 percent females and 46 percent males; 19 percent are minorities, and 38 percent reside on campus. The mean combined SAT score for regularly admitted students in Fall 2004 is 1133; the 6-year graduation rate is 64.7 percent, and approximately 35 percent of all Stockton graduates go on to graduate school.

Students are actively involved in a range of clubs and organizations, both Division III and intramural athletics (2002 NCAA Men's Division III national soccer champs), and have access to arts and cultural activities on campus through a regional performing arts center that is a part of the college, and a thought-provoking series of speakers who visit campus each year.

The Board of Trustees has initiated Distinguished Fellowships for Students, a program that encourages independent research and creative projects by students and augments other substantial scholarship opportunities, including a developing Honors Program.

Excellent Environment for Learning

The College is located on a 1,600-acre campus in the heart of the southern New Jersey Pineland Reserve near Atlantic City and other popular beach resort communities, 1 hour from Philadelphia, 2 hours from New York City, and 4 hours from Washington, DC.

Stockton's facilities include a marine science laboratory and field station, an expanded Library, and a $9 million state-of-the-art Arts and Sciences Building. We are poised to begin construction of additional classrooms and faculty offices, and are actively engaged in developing a College Master Plan to manage our anticipated growth.

Stockton's physical plant includes the following special facilities: a 500-seat Performing Arts Center, a $17 million Sports Center, an Astronomical Observatory, and the Southern Regional Institute and Educational Technology Training Center, which is one of the state's leading centers for training teachers to utilize new technologies in the classroom. The College also maintains a Holocaust Resource Center, a Marine Science laboratory and field station for the study of both fresh and salt water marine life, on-campus child care facilities, an on-campus outdoor research lab, a state-of-the-art computer conferencing network, and campus-wide cable TV.

Stockton opened a satellite center in Atlantic City in 2004 at the site of the historic former Carnegie Library building. Stockton collaborated with the City of Atlantic City and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to restore the 100-year-old building to its former elegance. The 9,000-square ft. landmark, now known as The Carnegie Library Center, hosts undergraduate and graduate courses, continuing professional education programming, and special events.

A Future Full of Energy

With the recent inauguration of its fourth President, Richard Stockton College is poised and committed to integrate its faculty and staff talents into the continued economic growth and social impact along the South Jersey shore, and to continue to serve well the students and citizens of South Jersey.