Kean University

Located in Union and Hillside, New Jersey, Kean University is the third largest public university in New Jersey as well as being the state’s largest producer of teachers.

The university was founded as the Newark Normal School in 1855 by Stephen Congar, the Newark Superintendent of Schools, and over the years it began to expand and increase the number of disciplines available to students, becoming the New Jersey State Teachers College at Newark in 1937.

Despite the Second World War forcing around 300 students to serve in the armed forces, the institution continued operating throughout the war, and in the decades that followed a huge influx of new students as a result of the post-war Baby Boom in the US meant the demand for teachers was greater than ever.

In 1973 the university became known as the Kean College of New Jersey, renamed for the influential Kean family whose ancestral home now houses the main campus.

It was only in the university’s recent history that it became known as Kean University, adopting its current name in 1997.

Today the university’s main 121-acre campus is located in Union as well as the 29-acre Liberty Hall Campus, while there is also a 35-acre campus in Hillside and a new campus in Toms River is under construction.

The main campus houses the majority of the university buildings as well as the residence halls, while the American history museum Liberty Hall, built in 1760, is the main highlight of the Liberty Hall campus.

Among notable former students include radio talk show host Bruce Williams, as well as writer and producer of hit TV series Frasier, Linda Morris, and former Jon Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora.