Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, dominates New Brunswick's identity. The original College Avenue campus sits a short walk north of the downtown and is the prettiest of the five Rutgers campuses that ring the city. Old Queens, the 1809 sandstone building at the top of College Avenue, is the founding building and still houses the university president's office.
The Rutgers Geology Museum in Geology Hall (free, weekday hours) is a small but characterful natural history collection — including a complete mastodon skeleton and an exoskeleton of a Japanese giant spider crab gifted by the Meiji government in the 1870s. The Voorhees Mall, with its rows of elms, is the heart of the campus. Walking tours leave from the visitor centre on College Avenue most weekdays during term time.