Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edison State University, formerly Thomas Edison State College, is a public institution of higher education located in Trenton, New Jersey. One of New Jersey's 11 public universities and colleges, Thomas Edison State University offers degrees at the undergraduate and graduate level. Thomas Edison State College was approved by the New Jersey Board of Education in December 1971 and established on July 1, 1972.

The school was named in honour of Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor who lived in New Jersey for the bulk of his adult life and gained an encyclopedic knowledge of many subject areas through self-directed learning. In 2015, Thomas Edison State University was awarded university status upon the approval of the state college Presidents' Council and Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks. The school's Board of Trustees approved a resolution authorizing the change in December 2015.

The university offers associate, bachelor's and master's degrees in more than 100 areas of study to its more than 18,600 students who reside in every state in the United States and more than 60 countries around the world. These programs are based in Thomas Edison State University's five schools.

Forbes magazine identified Thomas Edison State University in 1997 as one of the top 20 colleges and universities in the nation in the use of technology to create learning opportunities for adults and, as an early adopter of online education and administration, the University's computer network was cited in 1994 as "one of the brighter stars of higher learning" by The New York Times. In 2013, The New York Times called Thomas Edison State University the "college that paved the way for adults.