About Us

Our Story 

Rutgers, Statewide, originally known as Rutgers Off-Campus Degree Completion Programs, launched its first partnership program in 1998 at Brookdale Community College. This program was created in response to recommendations made to the N.J. Commission on Higher Education by the Blue-Ribbon Task Force on the Capacity of New Jersey’s Higher Education System. The task force, which was established as part of the Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994, identified a lack of access to post-secondary degree programs in the state's northwest, southwest, and coastal regions. Rutgers Statewide has provided access to higher education for thousands of students who can now pursue their educational goals at community college partnership sites.