Why Do a Ph.D. in CS at NJIT?

We are a Carnegie R1 Doctoral University (Very High Research Activity) and one of the nation’s leading public polytechnic universities. With an enrollment of more than 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students, we offer small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as databases, big data, data analytics, cybersecurity, programming languages, software engineering, systems, solar research, medical informatics, and bioinformatics, among others. NJIT's research expenditures exceed $167 million annually. NJIT was ranked: No. 1 by Forbes for economic mobility; No. 1 public school in New Jersey for net-price value 10 years post graduation by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce; No. 14 “Best College” by Money; and top 2% for alumni mid-career earnings by Payscale. NJIT occupies a 48-acre campus in the University Heights section of downtown Newark along with Rutgers – The State University Newark Campus, Rutgers Medical School and Essex County College. NJIT is located 20 minutes from New York City.

Several NJIT student organizations are active in the computer science department, enhancing our students' experience, making it richer and more rewarding. These organizations include a student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a chapter of the Women in Computing Society (WICS), a department-wide association of Computer Science graduate students (DeepCS) and an institute-wide graduate student association. Together, these organizations provide a wide range of support services, such as financial support for conference travel, on-campus professional events (e.g., seminars, workshops, research showcases, programming contests, hackatons, cybersecurity competitions), as well as off-campus corporate visits and networking events.

Usually known as the Garden State, New Jersey is also referred to as the “Garden of Innovation State,” in reference to its longstanding tradition as a hub for scientific and technological innovation. Located in Newark’s University Heights, NJIT is part of a vibrant ecosystem of high technology players. These include major pharmaceutical companies (e.g., Pfizer, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson), telecommunications companies (e.g., Audible, Verizon, AT&T), Wall Street companies (e.g., Deutsche Bank, Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs), corporate research centers (e.g., Panasonic, Siemens, NEC), and federal agencies (e.g., Federal Aviation Administration). These offer NJIT students and graduates ample opportunities for internships, entrepreneurship and employment.