Westminster Choir

Westminster Choir College (WCC) is an historic conservatory of music, currently operating on the campus of Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences (the college under which the historic institution has been reorganized) consists of Westminster Choir College and an additional three schools. From 1926 to 1929, WCC was an independent school located in Dayton, Ohio; it was then moved to Ithaca, New York (1929–1932), before relocating to Princeton, New Jersey (1932–2020), for much of its operating history. In 1992, the college merged with Rider University, continuing to occupy the historic campus in Downtown Princeton. In 2019, Rider University (controversially) attempted to monetize and sell the school, an issue under ongoing litigation by numerous plaintiffs. After a failed sale to Beijing-based Kaiwen Education Technology (formerly Jiansu Zhongtai Steel Structure Company), a for-profit enterprise with numerous financial burdens of its own—and owned solely by the Chinese government—Rider abandoned the Princeton campus and moved Westminster's programs to the University's main campus in Lawrenceville. In September 2024, the Princeton municipal council moved to purchase the campus through eminent domain for $50 million.