Times Higher Education Ranking 2020 – 319 US Ranking Rider University was founded in 1865 as Trenton Business College in the city of Trenton, New Jersey, USA. Andrew Rider was named the colleges first president and it was named after him the year before he stepped down in 1898. Women began attending in 1896 and the college continued to grow. In 1922 the college won accreditation to grant bachelors degrees in accounting and commercial science.