New Brunswick Theological Seminary offers professional and graduate degree programs (Masters and Doctoral) to candidates for ministry and to those pursuing careers in academia or non-theological fields.

The Dutch Reformed Synod of New York recognized that there was a shortage of adequately trained ministers to supply the church's congregations in the British American colonies.

Church leaders sought to obtain the right to examine and ordain ministers in the colonies (later in the United States), and to operate a school to train them.

With uncertainty about the college's financial stability, the Synod desired to directly oversee the theological training of their ministerial candidates.

[3]: pp.83–84 In 1792, the Synod became aware that many students were prevented from pursuing their studies in the "commercial emporium of New York" because of the high cost of living and a lack of sufficient funds.

In 1796, Livingston was directed by the Synod to relocate his theological classes to a small school in Flatbush (now in Queens, New York) where it remained for the next 14 years.

[3]: p.99  At this time, Elias van Bunschooten, a Princeton-trained minister residing in Sussex County, New Jersey, established funded a trust for assisting indigent young men in pursuing their studies preparing for ministry.

[3]: p.93–94 In 1823, the Synod paid a significant portion of Queen's College's debts in order to place the institution on a secure financial footing and enable it to reopen.

Philip Milledoler, a Reformed clergyman from New York City, was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Livingston's death.

[4] In the 1850s, the student bodies of Rutgers College and the Seminary began to expand, overcrowding the space provided at the Queens Campus.

[1]: p.72–73  Colonel James Nielson, David Bishop, and Charles Dayton—prominent citizens in New Brunswick—donated plots of land totaling almost 8 acres (32,000 m²) consisting of part of a hill extending from George Street to College Avenue.

Hardenbergh had finished completing the design for Kirkpatrick Chapel and Geology Hall on the Rutgers campus and later would become known for buildings in New York City, including the Plaza Hotel and Dakota Apartments.

[8] After receiving a donation from Gardner A. Sage earmarked for the construction of a library, the trustees commissioned Hardenbergh's former teacher, German-American architect Detlef Lienau, to design it.

[6] This was intended to make theological education more accessible as the seminary transitioned during the 1980s to 2010s from "a predominantly residential school to one that is more than 90 percent commuter based.

[6] Today, the seminary focuses on providing a comprehensive Christian education as "an inter-cultural, ecumenical school of Christian faith, learning, and scholarship committed to its metro-urban and global contexts"[9] and preparing its graduates to "inspire missions in a post-colonial world where the gospel is taking deep root, especially in urban areas of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

[11][12] On 20 June 2012, the outgoing president of Rutgers University, Richard L. McCormick announced that Rutgers would "integrate five acres (20,000 m²) along George Street between Seminary Place and Bishop Place into the College Avenue Campus" to build a 500-student Honors College, a dining facility, and a major academic building featuring lecture halls and departmental offices.

[10][16] The seminary offers admission to students after the review of a submitted application accompanied by college transcripts and letters of recommendation.

Lienau combined the elements of a Romanesque fourth century basilica and a "Victorian bookhall" to create a space conducive to "the contemplation of God.

It is expanding its collection with the acquisition of books and materials on urban ministry and the religious experience of African-American and Asian immigrant communities.

[25] The board consists of twelve to twenty-four trustees, serving for three-year terms, who are required to be "confessing Christians who acknowledge a commitment to the authority of the Bible over all matters of faith and practice, the sovereignty of God, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all of life".

He succeeded Gregg A. Mast, a clergyman who had served congregations in New Jersey, New York, and Johannesburg, South Africa, and held leadership positions within the Reformed Church of America.

The New Brunswick Theological Seminary's bylaws establish its mission "to educate persons and strengthen communities for transformational, public ministries in church and society.

"[25] In its 230 year history, the seminary's faculty and alumni have taken leading roles in the ministry and missions of the Reformed Church and other Christian denominations, in academia, and in the professional world.

Zwemer served in Basra, Bahrain, the Arabian peninsula, later in Egypt from 1891 to 1929, and believed that distributing literature was effective in spreading God's word.

1884), served as a missionary in Korea, and was influential in establishing several educational institutions with the financial support of his brother, John T. Underwood, a typewriter entrepreneur and manufacturer.