Ramapo College of New Jersey is a public undergraduate liberal arts college founded in 1969. Early years Planning and founding Just prior to 1969, the New Jersey system of public higher education consisted of the state university, Rutgers, along with six teachers colleges. The rest of the state's college students sought their educations at a handful of medium-sized private institutions, Princeton University, or an out-of-state college or university. New Jersey had the highest rate of students leaving the state for their college education. The New Jersey Department of Education produced a report in 1962 recommending a massive expansion and retooling of the public higher education system. Opposition to "broad based" taxes such as a sales or income tax generally hindered greater efforts by the state to spend further sums on higher education. Richard J. Hughes ran for New Jersey governor in 1962 on a platform including among its proposal one to institute a broad-based tax and another to increase the capacity of public higher education. While in office, Hughes succeeded in implementing a sales tax and in passing the Higher Education Act, which, in conjunction with a bond issue approved by the voters, established a Department of Higher Education, a Board of Higher Education, and two new state colleges. State officials rewarded Bergen County legislators for their support of the Higher Education Act with a new college among their constituents. The Board of Trustees for the new state college in northern New Jersey assembled for the first time in February 1969. The Department of Higher Education gave the Board much latitude in carrying out its responsibilities—namely, hiring a President, selecting a site, and choosing a basic model for their school. The Department did make clear, however, that they favored an innovative, experimental college. In June, the Board selected George Potter, a somewhat controversial administrator at the experimental Grand Valley State University in Michigan with a master's degree from Oxford University. The search for space on which to establish the new campus met a number of challenges, including cost and negative reception in the communities it explored. Eventually the college arranged to purchase the estate of the former Stephen Birch in Mahwah, New Jersey. The Board of Trustees set the opening for the fall of 1971. The architects produced plans for an L-shaped, glass-walled facility, with connected spaces devoted to particular departments or divisions. The architects also recommended a building systems