University Facts

Campus Size and Location

Set on 407 wooded acres in Wayne, Haledon, and North Haledon, New Jersey, the campus is just three miles from the historic Great Falls in Paterson yet just 20 miles from the rich cultural, artistic, and commercial life of New York City.

Alumni

William Paterson University has nearly 95,000 alumni, including more than 75,000 who reside in New Jersey. Alumni reside in all 50 states and around the world.

Students

The University has more than 10,000 students. During the Fall 2025 semester, 6,628 undergraduate students and 3,457 graduate students were enrolled.

Diversity

William Paterson is one of the most diverse public universities in New Jersey and approximately 40 percent of students are the first in their families to attend university. The University is designated as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and a Minority-Serving Institution.

Leadership

Richard J. Helldobler, PhD, is the eighth president of William Paterson University. He assumed the presidency on July 1, 2018.

Faculty

The University’s full-time faculty are highly distinguished and diverse scholars and teachers, including Fulbright scholars, Guggenheim Fellows, and recipients of numerous other awards, grants, and fellowships. Faculty are actively engaged in a wide range of scholarly contributions, including books, book chapters, conference proceedings, and articles in journals; performances, productions, and exhibitions; and lectures, presentations, and workshops at academic conferences and other settings.

Economic Impact

William Paterson University is among the largest producers of college graduates in New Jersey. In 2024-25, the University graduated 3,096 students. The University’s economic impact throughout the state is estimated to be more than $500 million a year.

Academic Programs and Degrees

William Paterson University offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate academic programs through four colleges: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Cotsakos College of Business, Education, and Science and Health. The University also offers an Honors College program for academically gifted students with 11 tracks of study.

The University offers more than 150 bachelor's degree, master’s degree, and undergraduate and graduate certificate programs, as well as three doctoral programs (doctor of education in leadership, doctorate in clinical psychology, and doctor of nursing practice). There are also pre-professional programs in law, medicine (dentistry, optometry, podiatry, and veterinary science), physical therapy, and physician assistant.

In 2020, the University launched its new platform, WP Online, and currently offers 57 fully online programs in business, education, the humanities and social sciences, and healthcare, including fully online undergraduate programs.

The University established a School of Nursing in September 2023, reflecting the growth and impact of its nursing program, which offers degrees on the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. Nursing enrollment has surged to become the largest in the northern half of New Jersey, no. 1 among the state's public regional universities, and the most on any single campus in New Jersey. 

Social Mobility

The University ranks no. 55 of nearly 1,400 institutions nationally in the 2025 Social Mobility Index. Created by CollegeNet, the index measures the extent to which a college or university educated more economically disadvantaged students (with family incomes below the national median) at lower tuition and graduates them into good paying jobs. In addition, the University ranks no. 43 of 164 institutions in the Regional Universities-North category for social mobility in U.S. News & World Report's 2026 edition of Best Colleges.

Civic Engagement

The University is the first public New Jersey college or university that requires new undergraduates to take a course on civic engagement. The University is an active leader in Engage NJ, a statewide civic engagement organization.

Sustainability

The University is committed to sustainability, and is a charter signatory of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Its solar panel installation ranks among the largest at a four-year university in the United States, supplying 15 percent of the institution’s energy needs.

Experiential Learning

William Paterson University’s state-of-the-art facilities are designed to support the institution’s focus on experiential learning, and provide students with preparation for careers and graduate study. Examples include:

• University Hall, an 80,000-square-foot academic building partially funded with $30 million from the “Building Our Future” Bond Act, which provides general-use classrooms and dedicated laboratories and clinical spaces for programs in nursing, communication disorders, and public health;
• Science Complex, which encourages an interactive learning environment with nearly 100 research labs and 50 teaching labs, many of which can be configured in multiple ways to enhance faculty and student collaboration;
• HD-ready TV broadcast studios and radio broadcast studios, music recording and audio production facilities; film, animation, and graphic design labs; large-scale robot system for 3D sculpting; and
• Russ Berrie Professional Sales Laboratory, a unique computerized multimedia facility that simulates business office environments, and the Financial Learning Center, a simulated trading room.

Campus Life

A vibrant campus life includes:

• Housing for 1,800 students in 8 residence halls, including Skyline Hall, which opened in fall 2019. Portions of the residence halls are dedicated to dynamic learning communities;
• More than 90 student clubs and organizations;
• 13 NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports teams, 6 for men and 7 for women; and
  
• 31 club sports and intramurals including nationally ranked club teams in ice hockey, bowling, and rugby as well as cheerleading, dance, and equestrian teams.

History

William Paterson University is the third oldest public institution in New Jersey, chartered in 1855 in the city of Paterson. The University is named for William Paterson (1745-1806), the New Jersey patriot who was a signer of the Constitution, one of New Jersey’s first U.S. senators, New Jersey’s second governor, and a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.