School field trips to the Edelman Planetarium last one hour and include two sections: a live, interactive, and inquiry-based presentation of the night sky and an immersive educational movie from our Show Catalog. Our extensive catalog of shows is organized by topic to help you select the best show for your school.

We require a minimum of 15 people and have a strict cap of 102 attendees per show. If your group exceeds 102, please divide it into two or more groups and reserve a separate show for each.

Thanks to a generous and ongoing donation by Ric and Jean Edelman, schools can attend a field trip at no cost.

Rowan University and the Edelman Planetarium are wheelchair accessible. Additional accommodations (i.e. captions, sensory-friendly) can be made upon request.

1. Complete our online field trip reservation request form. Make sure you have the following information ready before filling out the form:

• School contact information. This includes the school's full mailing address, the teacher's name, phone number, email address, and the grade(s) visiting.
• Total number of students and adults per show. Note: we require a minimum of 15 and have a strict cap of 102 people per show.
• Your preferred date and time and one or more alternate dates. Field trips can be booked from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. Check school calendars for any potential conflicts and contact your bus company to confirm transportation availability before making your reservation request.
• Title of the show(s) your school would like to see. Browse our Show Catalog for available show titles, descriptions, and trailers.

2. After we receive your request, we will book your visit and send email verification within 5 business days. If we can't accommodate your request, we will contact you to discuss alternatives for your group. 

3. Rowan University requires private school shows to be covered by an event service agreement and be covered by an insurance policy. We will need a Certificate Of Insurance (COI) from your insurance provider. A one-time event policy can be purchased through TULIP as an alternative. You will receive instructions regarding insurance after your event request is approved. Planetarium shows for public schools have the requirement waived as they are known to have appropriate coverage. This paperwork is due a minimum of 2 weeks before your event. Failure to provide the paperwork may result in cancellation of your visit.

4. If you need to change your reservation, reschedule, or cancel your visit, please contact us as soon as possible at planetarium@rowan.edu or 856-256-4389.

Consider these options to get the most out of your visit to Rowan University.

• Explore Mars with our 30-minute hands-on, inquiry- and object-based presentation, Roving with Perseverance. Schools can add Roving with Perservance to their visit at no cost.

  Roving With Perseverance is a set of materials to tell the story of the Perseverance rover and its mission to discover signs of ancient life on Mars. It is on loan from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The mini-exhibit includes a Perseverance rover table-top model, a wheel replica, and the “Mars 2020 Mission Kit” with rock and mineral samples, a sample tube replica, and swatches of spacecraft materials. Also included are a 12” Mars globe showing the landing sites of previous Mars exploration rovers and an 8-foot by 10-foot “selfie station” featuring an image of the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. 

  Through our hands-on program, participants can learn about the science and engineering behind planetary exploration. We pass around materials used on NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover and ask open-ended questions to encourage deeper thinking and engagement with the processes involved in Mars exploration. 

• Add a second show title from our Show Catalog. Each show adds 30 minutes to your experience. We recommend visiting schools to keep their visit to 1.5 to 2 hours maximum and not more than two back-to-back shows per group.

• Plan a visit to the Rowan University Art Gallery and Museum.

• Travel back in time to the Cretaceous with the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum, opening in March 2025.

• Visiting high schools can request a free tour of campus with an Admissions Ambassador. Email admissions@rowan.edu to begin scheduling.

Complete our online field trip reservation request form. Make sure you have the following information ready before filling out the form:

• School contact information. This includes the school's full mailing address, the teacher's name, phone number, email address, and the grade(s) visiting.
• Total number of students and adults per show. Note: we require a minimum of 15 and have a strict cap of 102 people per show.
• Your preferred date and time and one or more alternate dates. Field trips can be booked from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. Check school calendars for any potential conflicts and contact your bus company to confirm transportation availability before making your reservation request.
• Title of the show(s) your school would like to see. Browse our Show Catalog for available show titles, descriptions, and trailers.

After we receive your request, we will book your visit and send email verification within 5 business days. If we can't accommodate your request, we will contact you to discuss alternatives for your group. 

Reservations must be made at least three weeks before your earliest preferred visit date. You may request a show up to one year in advance. 

All field trips are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. The earlier you book, the better your chance of getting your preferred date or time. April and May are our busiest months. We strongly encourage booking your spring field trip as soon as possible to guarantee a space.

Free! Thanks to our founders' generous and ongoing donation, public and private schools may visit the Edelman Planetarium at no charge.

Other groups, including homeschools, scouts, daycares, summer camps, etc., can reserve a show for up to 25 people for $250 and $5 for each additional person.

We will try our best to accommodate your group when you arrive. However, shows are often scheduled back-to-back, so your show may be shortened to keep the Planetarium on schedule. We may, at our discretion and dependent on our schedule, adjust your reservation time to accommodate any delays.

To avoid this, please take bus availability, travel distance, traffic delays, and time for restrooms into account when making your reservation.

All members of your group must be present to start the show. Once it starts, the doors lock for safety. You cannot enter the Planetarium after a show has started.

The Planetarium does not have an indoor classroom or space for lunch. However, if you’d like to visit the HollyPointe Cafeteria, we can arrange a lunch for your class. Lunches in the cafeteria are $10.80 per person. Holly Pointe Cafeteria does not allow outside food. Please contact us as soon as possible to arrange lunch at Holly Pointe.

Bagged lunches can be eaten outside anywhere on campus. There are several green spaces in front of Business Hall, Robinson Hall, and Science Hall where you can take your students. If the weather is poor, you will have to make alternate arrangements.

If you have a group that exceeds 102, please divide them into two or more groups with separate reservations for each. Reservations may be made back-to-back on the same day or on different days. Please let us know your preference in the Comments section of the Online Reservation Request Form.

School groups are defined as organizations with students in pre-K through 12th grade accompanied by a licensed teacher. Schools may be either public or private. 

Yes! Non-school groups, including homeschools, summer camps, daycares, and scout troops, may reserve a private show for $250 for up to 25 people and $5 for each additional person up to 102. Check out our Private Shows page for more information.

As an agency of the State of New Jersey, Rowan University does not purchase liability insurance but instead relies upon the provisions of the New Jersey Tort Claims Act (NJSA 59:1-1 et seq.) to protect the University and its employees from liability claims. The provisions of the Tort Claims Act do not, however, extend to the use of facilities beyond normal operations.

Consequently, any persons or organizations wishing to use the facilities beyond normal operations must provide insurance to protect the State and Rowan University from liability claims arising from their use of the facilities.

Specifically, the University requires commercial general liability coverage with a minimum limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence, combined single limit. Rowan University, The State of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority must be named as additional insureds.

Public schools are not required to submit a COI at this time, as they are known to carry adequate coverage.

We offer an easy option to purchase the required coverage through TULIP at this link. Use the Quick Quote button and follow the prompts. Please use “FILM SCREENINGS” as the Event Type. A credit card is needed to confirm the purchase, and the certificate is automatically emailed to the University. Currently, this one-day event policy costs $200.

Public schools are not required to submit a COI at this time, as they are known to carry adequate coverage.

Send an email to planetarium@rowan.edu or give us a call at 856-256-4389. We try our best to reply within 2 business days.