Rutgers or Fordham: which is better for internships?

The biggest practical tradeoff is location versus scale: Fordham gives you much closer day-to-day access to internships because of its New York City presence, while Rutgers gives you a much larger university network and strong access to internships across New Jersey and the broader Northeast. If you want to intern during the semester with the least commuting friction, Fordham has the edge. If you are comfortable being more proactive and possibly relying more on summer internships, Rutgers can still offer plenty of opportunities, but it is usually less convenient.

Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus is in Manhattan, and even Rose Hill students can reach many NYC employers by train. That matters because a lot of students find internships through proximity, especially in finance, media, communications, nonprofits, law-related offices, and corporate roles where part-time in-semester work is common. Being in or right next to the city makes networking events, informational interviews, and last-minute internship logistics much easier.

Rutgers has real advantages too. It has a very large alumni base, major employer connections, and access to opportunities in New Brunswick, Newark, Jersey City, and New York. For fields like pharma, healthcare, government, research, supply chain, and some corporate internships tied to New Jersey employers, Rutgers can be especially solid. But depending on which Rutgers campus and program you are in, commuting to internships can be more of a project than it is at Fordham.

Career support also feels different. Fordham benefits from being tightly tied to the NYC job market, so students often build experience during the academic year earlier and more frequently. Rutgers offers lots of resources and employer pipelines, but because the university is so large, students often need to take more initiative to stand out and navigate the system.

Purely on internship access and ease, Fordham comes out ahead. Rutgers is still a strong option for career opportunities, especially if cost is much better or your target industries are concentrated in New Jersey.