Kean University provides access to a world-class global education for students from all backgrounds at its campuses in New Jersey and China. The University’s innovative focus on undergraduate research opportunities and targeted student support services helps ensure students’ success from their first day on campus to their first job after graduation.
Founded in 1855, Kean was the first public post-secondary institution in New Jersey. Originally known as a teacher’s college, Kean has evolved to become a hub for students studying health sciences, criminal justice, architecture, the liberal arts, design and business. In total, the University now offers over 50 baccalaureate degree programs and more than 60 graduate options for study, including doctoral degrees, master’s degrees, professional diplomas and paths leading to state certification. With tuition rates among the lowest in the New York metro area, Kean offers an education that is affordable to all students.
The University’s 180-acre main campus in Union offers brand new lab spaces for students to conduct experiments using the latest technology as well as community clinics that ensure students studying health sciences have experience working with patients before graduation. Its satellite locations near the beach in Toms River and Manahawkin as well as in rural Jefferson allow students to study natural environments from the oceans to the forests. And its campus in China, Wenzhou-Kean University, gives students the opportunity to gain a truly global education in English for the same price as studying in the U.S. Students can also learn from anywhere around the world through Kean Online.
Kean’s expert faculty are accomplished practitioners and scholars who provide personalized one-on-one advising to students while also offering outstanding classroom instruction and research. Faculty honors include admission into the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science and selection as Fulbright Specialists among others.
Through its Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, Kean offers students the chance to deepen their learning, develop critical thinking skills, and build a foundation for their professional lives through research with a sponsoring faculty member. The Freshman Research Initiative introduces firstyear students to the skills and techniques needed for independent research or creative work through a six-week, faculty mentored research project.
The Research First Initiative offers opportunities for authentic scientific research to Kean’s science students in the College of Natural, Applied and Health Sciences and Kean’s New Jersey Center for Science, Technology and Mathematics (NJCSTM) as early as their freshman year. It is designed to promote student interest in scientific research and encourage students to pursue careers in STEM.
The Research Recruits program is proactive, building bridges to faculty mentors for freshmen, sophomores and first-semester transfer students interested in an entry-level, yearlong research experience.
Through the annual Kean Research Days, students and faculty across academic disciplines collaborate on cutting-edge research about everything from global positioning systems to branding, and connect with industry leaders and visiting scholars from around the world.
Students also have the chance to participate in professional-level internships and field placements to build their resumes before graduation. Each academic program provides a for-credit internship opportunity in addition to other paid opportunities.
Ranked in the top five “Most Diverse Schools” in the U.S. by Diversity, Inc., the University promotes inclusion and is proud of its multicultural environment. Kean’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is evident in its academic programs. For example, the School of Computer Science and Technology is recognized as a leader in the education of women and traditionally underserved minorities in the field of technology. Kean received grants from Google to support a women in computing conference, research into computer science education for bilingual learners in high school, and a professional development program for high school computer science teachers.
Through its Wenzhou-Kean campus in China, Kean reaches around the world to promote innovation in STEM education. A Kean-sponsored STEM sister school program between New Jersey school districts and their counterparts in Zhejiang Province, China, brings teachers and administrators together from the U.S. and China to visit each other’s classrooms and share best practices in STEM education.
Kean University is continually evolving higher education pedagogy in keeping with its mission of making a college education accessible to all. The University has a long history of educating first-generation college students and recognizes the challenges they face. Kean’s First Gen Scholars program connects firstgeneration students to alumni mentors who offer support in their transition to college and in navigating their professional lives after Kean.
The Transition to Kean (T2K) course is required for all freshmen and new transfer students and acquaints them with the foundations for academic success at college, from study skills to time management and more.
Kean’s Supplemental Instruction (SI) program is a peer-to-peer support program for students in traditionally difficult courses such as chemistry and mathematics. SI leaders, students who have already taken and excelled in the selected courses, are embedded in those classes again to attend lectures, take notes, act as model students and work with faculty. They hold informal review sessions for any students in the class seeking extra help. Students who participate in these sessions show higher final course grades than their peers.
Kean is preparing students for jobs of the future that don’t exist today. That means balancing the need to understand subject matter with the need to think critically and adapt to the changing world. For Kean’s health sciences graduate students, it means learning in an interdisciplinary environment where occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology students work as a team. For undergraduate architecture students, it means spending a semester in Rome, the birthplace of modern architecture. And for business students, it means working on real-world projects for companies stretching from Ireland to China. A global, world-class education truly inspires.
“Kean University has distinguished itself through a culture of discovery on campus that offers opportunities for our students to explore and grow through research. Students participating in research learn how to become creative problem solvers and effective team players and communicators, qualities that are critical for career success in any field.” – Jeffrey H. Toney, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Research and Faculty, Kean University.
“At Kean, we are cultivating a diverse community of thinkers in computer science and technology to help companies and organizations compete in today’s domestic and global markets. Our program is over 50 percent minority enrollment and almost 20 percent female enrollment. We are proud that as our program enrollment has grown, our minority and female enrollments have grown at a faster rate.” – Patricia Morreale, Ph.D., Executive Director, Kean University School of Computer Science and Technology.
“Innovation in academic support is crucial to Kean University’s mission of affordability and accessibility in higher education. Our students, many of whom are first-generation college students and first-generation Americans, benefit from our programs that offer them individualized support to help them reach their educational goals.” – Neva Lozada, Ed.D., Director, Kean University Office of Student Success and Retention.
