Rutgers University (/ ˈ r ʌ t ɡ ər z / RUT-gərz), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey.Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, [11] and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church.It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States, the second-oldest in New ...