Drew University

Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded 186-acre (75 ha) campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. In 1867, financier and railroad tycoon Daniel Drew purchased an estate in Madison to establish a theological seminary to train candidates for Methodist ministry. The seminary later expanded to offer an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum in 1928 and graduate studies in 1955. The College of Liberal Arts, serving more than 1,600 undergraduate students, offers strong concentrations in the natural sciences, social sciences, languages and literatures, humanities and the arts, and in several interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary fields. The Drew Theological School, the third-oldest of thirteen Methodist seminaries affiliated with the United Methodist Church, currently enrolls more than 350 students preparing for careers in the ministry and the academic study of theology. The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, enrolling more than 250 graduate students, offers master's and doctoral degrees in a variety of specialized and interdisciplinary fields. While affiliated with the Methodist faith, Drew University makes no religious demands of its students. Although many of the Theological School's students and faculty are Methodists, students of all faiths are admitted to any program within the university. The United Methodist Church's General Commission on Archives and History is located on campus; the Commission maintains an archive of Methodist records and artifacts from the 19th century to the present.