Educated Quest.com

2012-13 Edition

Profile:Rutgers University- New Brunswick

1 Introduction to Rutgers-New Brunswick

Background

Fast Facts

1. The original Rutgers campus, first called Queens College, is the eighth oldest college in the U.S.

2. Among the first colleges in the American colonies, only Rutgers and William and Mary remain public institutions.

3. With nearly 30,000 students, Rutgers-New Brunswick has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any institution located between Boston and Philadelphia.

4. The Class of 2011 was the first to graduate as members of a single university.

5. Among the flagship state universities in the Northeast and MidAtlantic states, only the University of Maryland-College Park has a more diverse student community.

6. Rutgers has consistently ranked among the top 25 public research universities in U.S. News’ annual rankings; this past year it also ranked fifth among institutions that did not have a medical school.

7. In July 2013 Rutgers will take over management of the medical schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

2

Old School, New UniversityWith nearly 30,000 students, Rutgers-New Brunswick has the largest undergraduate enrollment of any institution located be-tween Boston and Philadelphia.

While Rutgers has been a state university for less than sixty years, it has resembled a traditional university with separate un-dergraduate divisions for only four. This has caused some grow-ing pains, but this school is well on its way to resolving them.

The Class of 2011 was the first to graduate as members of a single university. This class was a milestone that will begin to change the institutional memory of the university among alumni and parents. Past graduates have identified themselves not as Rutgers graduates but as sons or daughters of single colleges that have their own unique histories.

Rutgers-New Brunswick was a system of five federated col-leges, each with its own unique history and academic pro-grams. Admissions and academic requirements differed from campus to campus, even for the same major.

Rutgers has tried to preserve its colonial heritage, especially on its College Avenue campus, so the university is promoted as a greater community with multiple residential and academic op-tions.

Section 1

Background

3

Originally founded as Queens College in 1766, the current Col-lege Avenue Campus became Rutgers College in 1825 when Henry Rutgers, a Revolutionary War hero and college trustee, donated $5,000 and a bronze bell to help keep the college func-tioning. Winants Hall, which houses the Alumni Relations of-fices, was the first Rutgers dormitory.

From 1825 to 1972, Rutgers College was an all-male school. By the mid-1980s, both campuses formed a co-educational lib-eral arts school with over 10,000 students spread on three cam-puses—College Avenue, the Busch science campus and Living-ston-- including the majority of undergraduates enrolled in the schools of business, engineering and pharmacy.

Livingston College, which opened in 1969 in the wake of the civil rights movement, was the first truly co-educational liberal arts school within Rutgers. Named after William Livingston, the first post-colonial governor of New Jersey, the school linked aca-demic programs with cultural awareness and social activism. Ethnic studies were introduced on this campus as were pro-grams in journalism, urban studies and labor studies. Livingston has essentially closed though its academic programs remain. The campus has also become a more popular living and learn-ing option for more students.

Across downtown New Brunswick from the College Avenue campus is the Cook-Douglass campus. Cook College, originally known as the Rutgers Scientific School, was founded in 1864

after Rutgers was granted federal status as New Jersey’s land grant college. The Morill Land Grant Act, signed in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln, enabled Rutgers, as the state’s land grant college, to sell over 200,000 acres of land in what is now Utah. The funds were used to purchase farmland to estab-lish the campus in New Jersey. One hundred nine years later, the school was named Cook College after George H. Cook, its first president, and offered a liberal arts and engineering curricu-lum that also incorporated education in agriculture and environ-mental issues. Today, Cook is known as the School of Biologi-cal and Environmental Sciences.

Douglass College, originally known as the New Jersey College for Women, was founded in 1918 by Mabel Smith Douglass and the state Federation of Women’s Clubs. A graduate of Barnard College (NY), Douglass worked with the federation to establish a women’s college that maintained a relationship with an all-male school, much like Barnard had with Columbia College of Columbia University. Later renamed Douglass College, the school was the largest and one of the last publicly supported women’s colleges in the U.S. Today it is known as the Douglass Residential College, offering a combination of academic, leader-ship and residential opportunities for women who indicate their interest in Douglass after they are accepted by the university.

Rutgers has also been heralded as one of the nation’s most di-verse flagship universities. Today, according to College Results

4

Online, 18 percent of the student body includes under-represented minorities. Among Northeast and MidAtlantic flag-ship state universities, only the University of Maryland-College Park has a more diverse student body. In 2009, graduation rates for minority students at Rutgers, including African Ameri-cans and Hispanics, were about the same as they were at Mary-land and higher than they were at the University of Delaware, the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, all popular destinations for New Jer-sey college-bound freshmen.

While rankings say little about the quality of a research univer-isty, Rutgers has consistently appeared among the top 25 pub-lic institutions in U.S. News annual college guide. More interest-ing, this part year Rutger tied for fifth, behind William and Mary, Georgia Tech, UC-Santa Barbara and Purdue (IN) and tied with Clemson (SC) among public research universities that did not have a medical school.

However, in the summer of 2012, the New Jersey legislature, with the support of Governor Chris Christie, agreed to transfer management of the medical school campuses and the Cancer Research Center of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to Rutgers, effective in July, 2013. The addition of the medical schools on the flagship campus and the Newark campus, combined with the hiring a new president, Dr. Robert Barchi, a neuroscientist and physician, suggests that the univer-

sity may advance in new directions, which might also have posi-tive impacts on its fundraising and rankings.

2 What does it take to get in?Who decides to go?What other schools do applicants consider?

Competition

Fast Facts

1. Rutgers places the most importance on the rigor of the high school program, grade-point average, class rank and standardized test scores.

2. It is not unusual, for example, for a science-oriented student to apply to Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Pharmacy at the same time.

3. Mean SAT scores (Critical Reading and Mathematics) have been around 1200 for the past decade.

4. A student’s ability to get in depends, in part on the school s/he chooses.

5. About eight percent of the student body comes from U.S. states other than New Jersey.

6

Getting Into RutgersProspective freshmen apply to the School of Arts and Sciences, the largest undergraduate division, the School of Business, the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Mason Gross School of the Arts, the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and the College of Nursing.

Students interested in the schools of communications and infor-mation, management and labor relations and public policy must first enroll in the School of Arts and Sciences. Students may ap-ply to multiple schools; it is not unusual, for example, for a science-oriented student to apply to Arts and Sciences, Engi-neering and Pharmacy at the same time.

Rutgers places the most importance on the rigor of the high school program, grade-point average, class rank and standard-ized test scores. Auditions for the music and theatre arts pro-grams are also given high priority. Most other factors, including recommendations, the essay, extracurricular activities and work experience, are given consideration.

Students apply online and self-report their high school tran-script. Rutgers has decided not to participate in the Common Application; their process is less paper-intensive than most, and the more serious students are still likely to apply.

Section 1

Competition

7

Students who apply to Rutgers consider Penn State, NYU and Maryland more often than other public and private schools when they are looking out of state.

About eight percent of the 2011 incoming freshman class came from states other than New Jersey while just under three per-cent were international students. By comparison, other state uni-versities that compete most directly with Rutgers for in-state and out-of-state students admit between 24 percent (University of Maryland) and 65 percent (University of Delaware) from out-side their home states.

The continued dependence on a “Jersey-centric” population is surprising, considering that some of the most desirable assets of Rutgers--proximity to New York and Philadelphia, choice of college settings, specific academic programs--would appeal to students who are not from New Jersey.

While there is no such thing as a typical Rutgers student, it is probably safe to say that a combined reading, writing and mathematics SAT score of 1750 or better plus a grade point av-erage of 3.5 or better in a strong college-prep program with demonstrated leadership or extracurricular talents should be suf-ficient for an in-state student to gain admission to the School of Arts and Sciences. The mean SAT scores, Critical Reading and Math, have been around 1,200 for the past decade, while the range for the 25th to 75th percentile is between 1080 and 1310, similar to other leading state schools such as Penn State, Ohio

State, Washington and Wisconsin. However, several schools within Rutgers, especially performing arts, business, engineer-ing, nursing and pharmacy, are much harder to get into.

This past year, for example, the Mason Gross School of the Arts admitted 20 percent of all applicants, says Courtney McA-nuff, the university’s Vice President for Enrollment Manage-ment, while the College of Arts and Sciences admitted 55 per-cent. “We publish the mid-range requirements for students to be admitted,” McAnuff says, “so that students do not apply to programs where they do not have a realistic chance of getting in.”

Given the productivity of New Jersey’s high schools as well as a national advertising campaign, Jersey Roots, Global Reach, Rutgers has decided to go in a different direction for its flagship campus to become more fiscally sound and continually diverse while attempting to improve its U.S. and international profile. The university administration increased enrollment.

Since the university announced its reorganization in the fall of 2006, full-time undergraduate enrollment has grown from 24,900 to nearly 29,000 students. During some of the worst economic times (from 2008 to 2011) Rutgers added more than 1,000 full-time undergraduates per year. However, the univer-sity added more students at a time it has not been able to signifi-cantly increase the size of the faculty or the amount of available classroom space.

8

The class entering in the Fall of 2012 will have 200 fewer fresh-men. This is due to improvements in the retention rate. How-ever, the business school, slated to open a new building in the fall of 2013, will have an additional 150 freshmen, Courtney McAnuff says.

Bright students, whether they are from New Jersey or else-where, try to seek their best deal. It is quite realistic to expect Rutgers, given its location, plethora of housing options and vast academic offerings, to take a shot at enrolling as many well-qualified students as it can.

3 Freshman Retention RateGraduation Rates

Completion

Fast Facts

1. The class that entered in 2011 had a 93 percent retention rate, among the best among U.S. public research universities.

2. Rutgers has graduated more than half of its freshmen within four years.

3. Only 20 state universities have done better at graduating their students on time.

4. More than three quarters of the freshman class that entered in 2004 graduated within six years

10

The Path to a Degree

Until 2007 entering freshmen had a choice of affiliating with Rut-gers, Cook, Douglass or Livingston, even if they were pursuing degrees in engineering, education, performing arts or phar-macy.

For liberal arts students, this was a curriculum choice as well as a campus choice. Transferring between schools meant meeting a different set of degree requirements and in some cases lengthened a student’s education beyond four years. Options for multiple majors were difficult when a subject was offered in one federated college, but not the others. The introduction of a uniform arts and sciences curriculum ended such frustrations and confusion.

The class that entered in 2011 had a 93 percent retention rate, among the best among U.S. public research universities. While the university has graduated only two classes as “one Rutgers,” it is reasonable to expect that graduation and retentions rates will improve over the next four years.

The School of Arts and Sciences curriculum is set up to accom-modate students interested in multiple majors or transfer to the other pre-professional schools. The reorganization of liberal

Section 1

Completion

11

arts education at Rutgers, however, makes any look at past graduation rates almost irrelevant, though the classes that en-tered in 2003 and 2004 had a six-year graduation rate of 77 per-cent. And, while most state universities do not graduate half of their students within four years, 53 percent of the Rutgers enter-ing class in 2004, two years prior to reorganization, graduated on time.

Only 20 state universities have done better at graduating their students in four years. In the fall of 2011, U.S. News calculated a Predicted Six-Year Graduation Rate of 74 percent for Rut-gers; the university beat that by three. The “plus three” is a posi-tive reflection of the impact of the faculty, residence life and stu-dent services on Rutgers’ students.

By virtue of its graduation and acceptance rates, Rutgers has a place on the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) 50-50 College List produced by DIY College Rankings, an independent analyst based in New Haven, Connecticut. The university admits slightly more than half of its applicants, while it also graduates more than half of its freshmen within five years. This means that Rutgers gradu-ates not only its excellent students, but a fair share of the very good as well.

4 Tuition and FeesScholarshipsNet PricesDebt

Costs

Fast Facts

1. Rutgers in-state tuition and fees for 2012-13 will average just over $13,000.

2. Out-of-state tuition and fees, which run approximately $27,000, are quite competitive with those charged by Delaware, Maryland and Penn State, among other leading state universities as well as the Big Ten institutions, the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

3. Rutgers’ commitments to diversity and education for students from low-income families date back over 40 years.

13

Paying your way Rutgers in-state tuition and fees for 2013-13 will average $13,073; they will be slightly higher for business, engineering and pharmacy students. Out-of-state tuition and fees, which run approximately $27,000, are quite competitive with those charged by Delaware, Maryland and Penn State, among other leading state universities as well as the Big Ten institutions, the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

For 2012-13, Rutgers limited tuition and fee increases to 2.5 percent and increased room and board by less than two per-cent. Fee decisions within the university have recently become controversial because a portion has been used to help subsi-dize intercollegiate athletics, including the non-revenue sports. Rutgers participates in 22 scholarship sports. By comparison, Big East rival South Florida, which has about the same number of students as Rutgers, plays 17. The alternative, dropping non-revenue sports, was never seriously discussed at Rutgers. In addition, the university allows students to attend the revenue sports events for no charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Other schools charge separate fees for tickets, though they may still charge an athletics fee.

Students who earn Presidential Scholarships, which are essen-tially a free ride, as well as Scarlet Scholars, who receive a com-bination of merit-based and need-based assistance, will find Rutgers quite worthwhile. So is the James Dickson Carr Schol-arship, worth $10,000 a year. The university has also launched a Trustee Scholarship program; applicants for the 2013-14 aca-demic year will be the first considered.

Costs

14

Presidential Scholarships, which are merit-based, are targeted to students who have a combined score of at least 2250 on all three sections of the SAT: Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing--this is an average score of 750 per section--include full tuition and fees plus a stipend that is intended to cover the total costs of commuting or room and board.

While students who typically have the academic records and test scores to earn a Presidential Scholarship also have the cre-dentials to gain admission to other exceptionally selective schools, a scholarship that is more like a fellowship, nearly a free education, is a tempting opportunity.

These scholarships are awarded through the individual colleges within Rutgers, so the required grades and test scores among recipients may vary. The number awarded, however, has in-creased from 20 in 2006 to 115 for the upcoming academic year. This, says Courtney McAnuff, the university’s Vice Presi-dent for Enrollment Management, is because the university has attracted more, in terms of numbers, students who qualify aca-demically.

Scarlet Scholarships are awarded to students with a combined score of 1950--this is an average of 650 per section--and range between $3,500 and $7,500. Sadly, Rutgers does not offer merit-based scholarship aid to students who score lower on the standardized exams.

Within New Jersey other state-supported schools, including Montclair State University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Rowan University and privately-supported Seton Hall University have taken aggres-sive steps to award generous scholarships to students who come close, but do not need to reach such high marks on the

tests. They are, no doubt, pursuing the “bread and butter” Rut-gers student.

However, adds Courtney McAnuff, the university sets fair expec-tations for its scholarship recipients. The Presidential Scholar-ships require students to maintain a grade-point-average of 3.2 or better to be renewed; for Scarlet Scholars the requirement is a 3.0. Other schools, McAnuff says, ask the student to maintain a 3.5 or better; such schools do not expect their students to re-tain those scholarships.

Below is a comparison between Rutgers and three New Jersey public schools that offer merit-based aid. These reflect tuition and fees charged to a New Jersey resident student with a strong transcript in a rigorous high school program as well as a score of 1230 on the Critical Reading and Math sections of the SAT or a 27 on the ACT. This student would be in the upper 40 percent of the Rutgers applicant pool.

School Sticker Price: 2011-12 Tuition and Fees

2011-12 Tuition and Fees less Merit Scholarship

Rutgers University-New Brunswick

$12,755 to $13,873 $12,755 to $13,873

Montclair State University $10,502 $5,502

Ramapo College of New Jersey $12,758 $9,758

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

$11.963 $4,963

Rowan University $12,018 $10,018

It is, however, fair to note that New Jersey residents who apply to Rutgers while also considering flagship schools in other states would find their state university to be more of a “least cost” option. Penn State-University Park and the University of Delaware, the two most popular public out-of-state schools with

15

New Jersey residents, according to a higher education task force appointed by Governor Chris Christie in 2010, do not offer the same merit-based aid programs that are offered by the New Jersey schools listed above. Both charged out-of-state students in excess of $27,000 in tuition and fees. Other flagship schools such as the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary and the University of Michigan would have charged in ex-cess of $40,000, provided our model student could get in.

But West Virginia University (WVU), the fourth most popular state school, according to a Chris Christie’s task force, is ag-gressive with merit awards. WVU would have awarded our “model” student a $6,000 merit scholarship, reducing her out-of-state tuition and fees to under $12,000, or less than she would pay to go to Rutgers as an in-state student. Binghamton Univer-sity (NY), an excellent state school that draws 15 percent of its student body from other states, including New Jersey, will charge out-of-state students less than $17,000 in 2012-13. Stony Brook, a sister New York state school, will be quite com-petitive, too.

Another cost consideration for New Jersey residents as well as out-of-state students is sticker price versus Average Net Price, the estimated total costs for tuition, room and board, books, transportation and other incidentals less scholarships and grants that do not need to be repaid.

Prospective students who apply to Rutgers from New Jersey and other states also consider several private schools, some of which have generous scholarship assistance, as well as the public institutions as shown below. The data comes from Col-lege Navigator, the site operated by the U.S. Department of Education. The net prices for the public schools are for in-state

students only. It can be seen from this table that the private insti-tutions are trying to be more competitive for the students who come from households with more modest incomes, though those from New Jersey families that are more well to do will find their state-supported schools, including Rutgers, to be less ex-pensive.

School Average Net Price 2010-11 Household Income $75,000 to

$110,000

Average Net Price 2010-11 Household Income $110,000 or

more

Rutgers University-New Brunswick

$24,246 $25,326

Montclair State University $20,946 $20,932

The College of New Jersey $23,722 $25,061

Ramapo College of New Jersey $23,480 $25,471

Rowan University $20,378 $20,388

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

$25,501 $25,294

Princeton University $18,465 $28,098

New York University $40,148 $46,306

Syracuse University $28,235 $39,590

Cornell University $22,439 $39,459

Columbia University $15,887 $36,846

University of Pennsylvania $20,582 $37,344

Villanova University $30,672 $41,862

Drexel University $34,763 $37,822

Lehigh University $23,583 $40,134

Bucknell University $30,168 $42,793

Boston University $31,771 $41.890

Northeastern University $30,668 $37,493

George Washington University $26,141 $35,236

Georgetown University $25,045 $41,277

16

Another way to consider costs is to look at the debt-to-credentials ratio. Developed by Education Sector, a non-partisan, non-profit educational policy organization based in Washington D.C., this ratio reflects the average level of debt that students need to take on to complete their degrees. The higher the graduation rate, the lower the school’s costs or the more generous the scholarship aid, the lower the ratio will be.

On the next page are the debt-to-credentials ratios for the 2008-09 school year for Rutgers and the schools mentioned be-fore.

School Debt-to-Credentials Ratio2009

Rutgers University-New Brunswick $17,675

The College of New Jersey $14,600

Ramapo College of New Jersey $19,757

Rowan University $21,756

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey $18,531

Montclair State University $22,517

Princeton University $1,969

New York University $27,682

Syracuse University $25,705

Cornell University $9,766

Columbia University $15,177

University of Pennsylvania $11,458

Villanova University $18,030

Drexel University $28,000

Lehigh University $15,231

Bucknell University $18,639

Boston University $18,483

Northeastern University $27,483

George Washington University $13,910

Georgetown University $13,948

17

The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) student is less likely to carry as much debt as Rutgers student because of the school’s higher four-year and six-year graduation rates. However, it is also fair to mention that students who fall in the upper quarter of the class at TCNJ are also likely to qualify as Scarlet Scholars to Rutgers, which would lower their costs, and hopefully their debt, much further.

It is also necessary to point out, however, that students who ac-cept a Presidential Scholarship, which is more like a fellowship because of the room and board or commuting allowance, are less likely to incur debts that they might have taken on even if they had been offered full tuition and fees from any of the pri-vate schools listed above. The private schools do not make as generous an award.

However, while merit scholarships are limited, ten percent of Rutgers students receive assistance through the state-supported Educational Opportunity Fund, which is targeted to promising students from economically disadvantaged back-grounds. Rutgers has made serious commitments to support these students that date back more than four decades. But Rut-gers students are also more vulnerable to cuts in federal and state aid than students who attend many other leading state uni-versities. More than twenty five percent of the undergraduate

students are eligible for the federal Pell Grant, quite high for a leading state school.

The university also launched a Future Scholars Program to pro-vide college preparatory instruction, mentoring and internships, starting with seventh graders. The oldest class in the New Brunswick area are currently high school seniors. Those who successfully qualify for admission will receive full scholarships to Rutgers. Courtney McAnuff estimates that 60 percent of the 190 students are likely to enroll. This program, funded with an initial $2 million grant, then supplemented by corporate contribu-tions, has admitted nearly 800 New Brunswick area students since its inception six years ago.

However, limited institutional resources, along with New Jer-sey’s debt crisis, have been a large part of Rutgers fiscal prob-lems. Rutgers’ endowment at the close of 2010-11 was, accord-ing to the National Association of College and University Busi-ness Officers, approximately $698 million, seventh lowest among U.S. News’ top 25 public universities, ahead of only the College of William and Mary, the University of California-San Di-ego, the University of California-Irvine, Clemson and the Univer-sity of Connecticut. In addition, the endowment covers all three of the university campuses in Camden, Newark and New Bruns-wick, while the other schools may build up the endowment of a single campus. This is significant, as leading colleges and uni-versities tap into their endowments to make up for losses in fi-

18

nancial assistance from other public and private sources. If the market value of the endowment declines, budget cuts and tui-tion and fee increases are also likely to follow; the availability of funds from the unsecured portion of the endowment goes down.

Entering his last year as president of the university, Richard McCormick, son of a former Rutgers dean, and a former presi-dent of the University of Washington, began a seven-year $1 bil-lion capital campaign to improve facilities, increase the number of scholarships and hire new faculty. Ten percent of this amount is dedicated to athletics.

President McCormick’s administrative team and active alumni have raised more than $600 million of the goal within just two years. This is impressive considering that so much of the institu-tional memory is tied to the old federated colleges, including two formerly single-sex schools that no longer exist. The suc-cess of this campaign should be reflected in a larger endow-ment for 2012 as the new pledges go on the books. An increase in scholarship aid may either increase the number of students that the university can assist through their own funds, lower the average net price per student, or possibly both.

McCormick was also one of New Jersey’s leading advocates for a $750 million higher education bond issue; bond proceeds would be used to finance capital improvements not only at Rut-gers, but also

at several other state colleges. The bond issue is on the ballot for the November 2012 elections.

The Sustainable University, a Web site operated by Bain and Co., an internationally known management consulting firm re-ports that Rutgers is “fiscally sound based on available data.”

5 On-Campus HousingLocal Housing Market

Comforts

Fast Facts

1. Rutgers is one of the few flagship state universities that can house more than half of its undergraduate student body.

2. The university will open a $215 million, 1,500 bed student apartment complex on the campus this fall.

3. 86 percent of freshmen entering in 2010, a class of over 5,000 students, requested on-campus housing.

4. Rutgers offers not only living-learning options but more campus community living options than any state university.

5. The university recently announced plans to build a new honors residence hall on the College Avenue Campus, as part of a $295 million mixed use development

6. This, and a planned 800 bed residence complex will add another 1,300 beds to the on-campus housing mix.

20

Settling In

Rutgers is one of the few large public research universi-ties that is capable of housing more than half of its stu-dents in on-campus dormitories and apartments after new construction totaling 1,500 beds is completed this summer. According to Greg Blimling, vice president for student affairs, 86 percent of freshmen entering in 2010, a class of over 5,000 students, requested on-campus housing.

Housing lotteries and hotel room assignments, both a bane of student life at Rutgers, become history after new on-campus apartments on the Livingston campus, be-come ready for occupancy this fall Unlike many large uni-versities, students have enough options to enable to live on campus for all four years. Peer schools such as Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin, among others, do not accommodate most students beyond their freshman year.

Comforts

21

Instead of being limited to the residence hall options at a single liberal arts college, which had been the case until the fall of 2006, freshman now have the choice of living on the campus of their choice. They can live within walk-ing distance of a cow pasture on the Cook campus or hop a train ride to New York City if they’re living on Col-lege Avenue. Accepted students may choose up to five housing options. Advance preparation to learn the likely locations of classes and ride the campus bus routes is strongly advised. Rutgers also hosts orientation events where students may meet and choose roommates be-fore they apply for housing. Students may choose new roommates after two weeks, though the change request may not be prejudicial.

All freshmen, regardless of campus of residence, live in traditional corridor-style buildings, usually co-ed by wing or floor, though single-sex living options for women are offered on Douglass and Busch. The Douglass campus offers housing strictly for women that accommodates 1,800 students, 1,200 of whom live in a residential col-lege setting. This is a special advantage for Rutgers over other universities, because it appeals to female stu-

dents who come from more conservative family back-grounds. Co-ed room arrangements have been intro-duced as well. Corridor-style living allows students to meet more people, though it means there are more stu-dents to share a bathroom. Suite-style options are avail-able to upperclassmen as are student apartments. All dorms are wired for cable television and more than half have set up for wireless Internet. All students, including freshmen, may have cars, but they must pay a parking fee that allows them to park in a single lot on their cam-pus of residence, none immediately adjacent to dormito-ries.

Honors housing options are available on all campuses, as are eight living-learning communities which have a residential component as well as academic credits. Among the stand-outs you are not likely to find on other college campuses is a Weather-Watcher community on the Cook campus which offers students interested in me-teorology or science journalism the opportunity to pro-duce the daily weather forecast and longer science pro-gramming for the university’s television station. Also unique, two other learning communities are focused on

22

science, technology, engineering and mathematics edu-cation for women. The Bunting-Cobb community at Douglass is connected to a one-credit career exploration course, while the Rosalind Franklin House on the Busch campus, where students admitted by invitation, is con-nected to a calculus course as well as a one-credit First-Year Interest course. Rutgers also hosts the only Middle East Coexistence house on a college campus in the country as a living-learning community. Founded on the Douglass Residential campus in 2006, the house fosters dialogue between Jews, Muslims and members of other faiths about Middle East culture and politics.

The oldest housing is located on the College Avenue and Douglass Campuses. Some of these buildings, most notably the Old Gibbons houses on the Douglass Campus and Demarest Hall on the College Avenue Cam-pus, have the charm that is often associated with small prestigious liberal arts schools. New Gibbons at Doug-lass and the Bishop Quad on College Avenue are also popular choices along with modern suites adjacent to the student center on the Busch Campus. However, there are also taller brick and chrome buildings, the Lip-

pincott and Katzenbach dorms on the Douglass campus and the River Dorms on College Avenue, that are less at-tractive aluminum and chrome Sixties designs.

College Avenue, the oldest campus and the former Rut-gers College, was long considered the most desired loca-tion given its proximity to the fraternities and downtown New Brunswick. These advantages remain, though three of the older residence halls will be taken off-line to be brought up to code. The River Dorms, the three high-rise structures along the Raritan River waterfront, were reno-vated last year, including large first-floor study lounges with river views. An additional 1,300 beds are planned for this campus by 2015, with one building planned for Honors housing.

But while College Avenue offers the most direct access to downtown New Brunswick, it’s dining hall, Brower Commons, is of a long-outdated design. It’s two food sta-tions are tied to inclines meant to handle long lines. Most university dining hall operations, including those on the other Rutgers-New Brunswick campuses, have long

23

scrapped this arrangement in favor of multiple food sta-tions. Students who live on College Avenue are likely to be tempted to use the “flex” balance of their meal card to eat at the food court or the Au Bon Pain in the student center and skip dining hall meals.

With the exception of football weekends, the Busch cam-pus is quieter than either College Avenue or Douglass, though it hosts more than 3,500 students. The BEST (Bi-ology, Engineering, Science, Technology) complex opened last year including work room spaces with com-puters loaded with the necessary software for all science courses. The campus is expansive; any walk to any-thing, including classes, the student center, dining hall and the main library is longer from the dorms than it is on any other campus. The campus could be more bicy-cle friendly. There are no bike paths along the major roads between buildings, though bike racks are avail-able outside classroom buildings, labs, the library and the student center.

The Livingston Campus has a 19th century residential college layout that uses 1960s building designs featuring

brick concrete buildings and walkways, and little of the greenery that one might see on a colonial campus. The original dorms were organized into three low-rise quads, a similar layout to the more popular dorms on the Col-lege Avenue Campus. The Livingston campus was also designed so that dorms, including a pair of residential towers constructed in the late seventies, and academic buildings were all within walking distance. Livingston stu-dents can walk to all but the athletic center, the health center and the gym without crossing a road. The apart-ment complex, now under construction, will also feature retail stores and a movie theatre. As a result, this cam-pus will become a much larger social center than it is now, and one that Rutgers police can more easily se-cure.

Off-campus rents in New Brunswick and neighboring Highland Park are high, ranging from $1,200 to $1,800 per month for a two-bedroom apartment; the higher priced units can accommodate as many as four stu-dents, the lower priced ones cannot. The City of New Brunswick aggressively enforces an ordinance that man-dates that no more than three unrelated people can live

24

in an apartment, whether it is in an apartment building or a single floor of a house. Another off-campus popular housing option is older—pre- World War II homes closer to the College Avenue and Douglass Campuses that vary tremendously in quality. Homes that are located more than a ten-minute walk from the College Avenue Campus as well as those bordering the Douglass and Cook Campuses should be avoided.

6 CampusEnvironsSchool Spirit

Community

Fast Facts

1. Rutgers is more heavily reliant on a campus bus network than most other large state universities.

2. The campus is divided by a river, two state highways and an urban downtown business center; few university campuses are so spread out.

3. The College Avenue campus has been the traditional social center, though that may be supplanted by the Livingston campus once new apartments come on-line this fall.

4. While Rutgers is not a “sports school” like Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State, students do turn out to support winning teams.

26

What’s On and Around Campus

While not everyone who lives on a particular campus ma-jors in a subject that is offered on their campus, living close to classes is a very practical thing for freshmen and sophomores. Otherwise they become dependent on the largest campus bus system on any university cam-pus in the country. Day-time commuting students who do not live on campus are also asked to park in satellite lots and ride the buses on campus.

Rutgers is heavily reliant on buses because the cam-puses are divided by a river (the Raritan), two state high-ways (Routes 18 and 27) and an urban downtown busi-ness center (George Street in New Brunswick). Only one of these crossings is wide: the John Lynch Bridge that crosses the Raritan between the College Avenue campus and the Busch and Livingston Campuses. The rest are one or two lane roads that become extremely congested at morning rush hour (between 7:30 and 9:00 AM) and the evening rush hour (between 4:30 and 6:30

Community

27

PM). For this reason, students learn to avoid first and last period courses away from the campus where they live. So, for many students, Rutgers is not a “roll out of bed and head off to class” experience. The divisions be-tween campuses and the dependency on buses force Rutgers students into one of two mindsets: try to live close to classes and work and return home in between, or think like commuters to a big city where you spend your entire day at classes and work and return home only at the end of the day to sleep and socialize. It is very difficult to split a day between two or more cam-puses.

First-semester freshmen get to know the buses because they get the last choice of available classes. After choos-ing courses at a spring orientation, they are assigned classes based on available space and the time required to travel between campuses. It is not unusual for them to have classes on more than one campus on the same day. Travel between campuses on crowded buses while juggling a laptop and a latte becomes tiring quickly. After the first semester, more courses become open to fresh-

men, including night classes that meet once a week and online classes via the internet.

Because Rutgers has been formed out of multiple schools and the campus is so expansive, the collective university lacks big-campus traditions, including “never say die” support for athletics.

Yet while Rutgers is not a “sports” school along the lines of those that have played regularly for national titles in basketball or football, students and alumni will turn out in large numbers for winning teams. Under former coach Greg Schiano, the Scarlet Knights played in six bowl games over the past seven seasons, winning five. Now head coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Schi-ano was not only the head coach, but also the chief fund-raiser for his football program. As the team’s fortunes im-proved, stadium capacity increased from 41,000 to more than 55,000 seats, in addition to luxury boxes and im-proved recruitment and fitness facilities. During the last six years of his tenure, his teams never ranked below the top five in the NCAA Academic Performance Rat-ings. Schiano has been succeeded by Kyle Flood, an as-

28

sistant for the past seven seasons. Coach Flood inher-ited a squad that has the talent to win a conference title in his first season.

Rutgers has also enjoyed success in women’s basket-ball. Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer has taken her team to eleven NCAA tournament berths in 14 seasons, including two appearances in the national championship game. Stringer, who had previously taken Cheney Uni-versity (PA) and the University of Iowa to the finals, was nationally lauded for standing by her team in the wake of racist comments by radio “shock-jock” Don Imus on the night before a national championship game in 2008.

Men’s basketball will hopefully ended its downswing with the hiring of Mike Rice as head coach in 2010. While head coach Rice has had losing seasons in his first year at the helm, he has recruited one of the top freshman classes in the country. However, the men have not ap-peared in the NCAA tournament in two decades while they play in one of the most competitive conferences in the country.

But the Rutgers community will also shy away from watching losers. While Coach Schiano, for example, was given credit for his team’s good fortunes, his com-pensation was also a focal point of criticism in bad times. Coming off a 4-8 season, alumni and the public have been offered mini-season packages and single game discounts for home football games. But, while other state universities that are traditional football pow-ers ask alumni to make $1,000+ donations when renew-ing their season tickets, Rutgers does not ask for such contributions.

In 2010, students contributed $8 million to intercollegiate sports through their campus fee; the university added $13 million. While these subsidies have served as an in-terim step to finance a 22- sport varsity athletic program, they have also generated resentment from the faculty un-ion leadership and angry remarks through the New Jer-sey press. A counter-argument is that the revenue sports help to cover the costs of the facilities, equipment and medical resources that are also used by athletes

29

who play non-revenue sports. Without football and men’s basketball providing revenues, more of the costs of the non-revenue sports might be covered out of dona-tions and student fees.

There is also more sensitivity to promote academic achievements to counterbalance athletic excellence at Rutgers than at most other state schools that have long sports traditions. During the 2007 season, the university hosted “Huddle with the Faculty” programs before home games, emulating a seasonal practice at Penn State. However, Rutgers does not have an on-campus hotel to host such programs, as Penn State does. This problem will be remedied when a new hotel-conference complex is constructed on the Livingston Campus over the next two years.

Outside of Homecoming and Octoberfest, both associ-ated with football weekends, Rutgers has no fall multi-campus events. And, after 39 years, Rutgers has can-celled its spring festival, Rutgersfest. In 2011, effective social media brought over 40,000 people to the event. There was an overflow of non-students, including under-

age high school students, onto Easton Avenue, the ma-jor college-oriented retail strip near the College Avenue Campus. The overflow, as well as two off-campus shoot-ings, neither on the campus itself nor involving Rutgers students, led President McCormick to cancel future Rut-gersfests. However, an annual Rutgers Day for students and alumni, which includes a well-attended Ag Field Day on the Cook Campus, takes place in late April.

The university community comes together at times when compassion or activism is required. In October 2010, nearly 1,000 students gathered in a candlelight vigil for Tyler Clementi, a gay student who committed suicide af-ter his sexual encounter with another man was secretly viewed by others. The vigil led to widespread calls for more civility on campus by President McCormick, among others. At the end of the same month, the cam-pus held a rally for Eric LeGrand, a football player who became paralyzed from the neck down after making a tackle on a kick-off against Army. Led in part by Coach Schiano, the university community organized many fund-

30

raisers to help LeGrand, who is making a faster-than-expected recovery from his injuries.

Unlike most flagship state universities which have a cen-tral student memorial union, each Rutgers campus has its own student center with university shops inside, audi-toriums and meeting spaces inside—the College Avenue Campus has two—as well as its own student health cen-ter.

Since the university’s campus layout has remained the same since reorganization, a Rutgers identity is still, at least for the short term, likely to be tied to the question, “Which college?” As a result of having multiple cam-puses, Rutgers has a vast selection of student events as well as programs open to the public. While The RAC, with 8,000 seats, is too small to be a concert facility, larger venues in Newark and New York City are less than an hour away by train.

But although the individual campuses have a vast selec-tion of events, the College Avenue Campus still fills the role of social center. It is close to Easton Avenue, the

most student-oriented street in downtown New Bruns-wick, and the fraternities which are scattered mainly be-tween College Avenue and Union Street, a block away from the major campus buildings. College Avenue is the smallest of the five campuses, so it is also the most con-gested. Downtown parking is very scarce when Thurs-day night and weekend parties hit full steam.

Eating and drinking places along nearby George Street, the business center of downtown New Brunswick, cater more toward the daytime office workers—downtown New Brunswick is the headquarters for Johnson and Johnson as well as a county seat—until it meets up with Livingston Avenue where there is a Rutgers student apartment complex (Rockoff Hall) close by as well as three off-Broadway theaters, two affiliated with the uni-versity, which host student and professional productions. The theaters have successfully brought evening crowds into the downtown as well as providing performance, em-ployment and internship opportunities for Rutgers stu-dents. In 1999, one theatre, the Crossroads, received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the African-American stage.

31

Guided by Johnson and Johnson’s decision to keep its corporate headquarters in the downtown in the 1970s, New Brunswick has witnessed a major commercial revi-talization over the past 35 years. While its impacts on the downtown’s physical appearance have been effec-tive and the theatre district has brought in a new night life, there are still pockets of discount-oriented shopping on George Street mixed between high-end restaurants and luxury apartments, as well as retail vacancies. While there are student-oriented restaurants on George Street, there is little to no student-oriented retail shop-ping.

Rutgers built its public safety building in downtown New Brunswick, close to the Douglass Campus. The build-ing’s visibility, combined with a 24/7 Security Escort Pro-gram and a 100-student equestrian and bicycle Commu-nity Officer Program have helped to improve the percep-tion of safety. The department also runs late-night shut-tle bus programs. The Public Safety Department posts three crime reports on its website: two mandated by the federal Clery Act of 1998; the other, an internal affairs re-port, is posted by the department. The reported num-

bers of property, alcohol and drug-related crimes have unfortunately been on an upswing, according to the school’s Clery Report for 2006 through 2009. The report also mentioned 13 reported forcible and non-forcible sex offenses during 2009, though there had been eight total over the previous two years.

The City of New Brunswick also witnessed an upturn in violent crimes, including rapes, strong-arm robberies and aggravated assaults during 2008 and 2009. They have enforcement powers over students who share large homes immediately off-campus by College Ave-nue, Cook and Douglass. The university police and the local police forces for the six communities that surround the campus investigate crimes together and post daily crime alert reports on the Rutgers Public Safety website.

7 AcademicsHonors ProgramsExperiential Learning

Curriculum

Fast Facts

1. Rutgers is one of only 61 U.S. and Canadian institutions that is a member of the research-oriented Association of American Universities.

2. The Aresty Center for Undergraduate Research exposes students to research opportunities, even in the freshman year--and students do not need to be enrolled in an honors program to participate.

3. Currently, about half of all freshmen take Byrne Seminars, one-credit pass-fail courses that enable students to take a course with a senior faculty member over a period of ten weeks.

33

Academic Opportunities and Options

Despite having more limited financial resources than peer universities, Rutgers has earned its fair share of high academic rankings. Rutgers is also one of only 61 U.S. and Canadian institutions that is a member of the research-oriented Association of American Universities; the university was elected to this prestigious association in 1989.

Rutgers-New Brunswick offers its freshmen the option to take Byrne Seminars, one-credit pass-fail courses that enable students to take a course with a senior faculty member over a period of ten weeks. Currently half of all freshmen take Byrne Seminars, says Barry Qualls, the university’s Vice President for Undergraduate Education. Credit-bearing Signature Courses, also small clases planned around special topics, go an extra step further. Not only do they run a full-semester and carry traditional grades; they may also be used to fulfill major or Core Curriculum requirements. These courses cover such top-

Curriculum

34

ics as “Energy and Climate Change”, “The Ethics of Food Choices and Food Policy,” and “Global East Asia.”Students in the School of Arts and Sciences, which en-rolls approximately two-thirds of the undergraduate stu-dent body, must complete a Core Curriculum comprised around three areas: 21st Century Challenges, Areas of Inquiry and Cognitive Skills and Processes. The Signa-ture Courses, which are multi-disciplinary, combining, for example, perspectives of a problem from the standpoint of science and social science, can be used toward fulfill-ing two courses under 21st Century Challenges. More than three dozen Signature courses are available. They can be used to fulfill requirements in the other areas as well.

The Areas of Inquiry covers the breath more commonly found in a liberal arts education including natural sci-ences (two courses for six credits), Social and Historical Analysis (two courses for six credits) and Arts and Hu-manities (two courses for six credits). Cognitive Skills and Processes cover Writing and Communication (three courses for nine credits), Quantitative and Formal Rea-

soning (two courses for six credits) and Information Tech-nology and Research (one course for three credits).

While the 39 credits required under the Core Curriculum are not especially cumbersome, it is a good idea to use one or two of the Signature Courses to fulfill as many as three requirements. While these courses are likely to be more demanding than a more traditional introductory course, they also provide better preparation for ad-vanced courses in a major or minor. While there may be academic debate about the value of a “customized” course for non-majors, especially in mathematics or the sciences, versus a traditional lecture and laboratory ap-proach supported by out-of-class tutorials, an effort to re-late these subjects to other fields of interest or current events also helps non-majors to become better edu-cated citizens. It also contributes to higher graduation and retention rates.

Rutgers does more than most schools to encourage stu-dents to seek honors-level instruction, even if they are not first admitted to the University Honors program.

35

Funded with a $4 million gift eight years ago, the Aresty Center for Undergraduate Research exposes students to research opportunities, even in the freshman year. Students who have completed their first year may apply to a Summer Science Research Program where they are matched with a faculty member who serves as their academic and professional mentor. Each student also re-ceives a $3,000 stipend as well as on-campus housing. Sophomores and juniors may participate in the Aresty Research Assistant Program, where they may also de-velop mentor relationships. Juniors and seniors may seek funding for their own research projects and partici-pate in an Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Sixty percent of Rutgers undergraduates elect to con-duct research with faculty members working in collabora-tive groups or as independent scholars, and these oppor-tunities are not limited to students by major or grade-point-average.

There are also more than 60 programs for those who wish to study abroad as well as a partnership with the

United Nations Department of Public Information that fo-cuses on diplomacy and foreign affairs.The reorganization of the university by schools also made internship and cooperative education opportuni-ties once available only to students at individual schools accessible to all students. As a complement to these of-ferings, the university is developing a one-credit pass-fail seminar taught by Career Services professionals as well as faculty members.

65 percent of the more than 3,700 faculty members at Rutgers are full time. Nearly all (99 percent) faculty mem-bers, full time and part time, hold a doctorate. The univer-sity calculates its student-faculty ratio of 13.6 to 1 based on the total number of undergraduate and graduate stu-dents (38,700) and the number of full-time faculty plus one-third the number of part-time faculty. This is lower than most state schools on the East Coast, with the ex-cept of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill which is about the same.

36

Rutgers students gave their faculty a rating of 3.22 out of 4 on RateMyProfessors. By comparison, among New Jersey schools, Princeton students gave their faculty a 2.85, TCNJ students a 3.04, Montclair State students a 3.34, Ramapo students a 3.15, Rowan students a 3.18 and Richard Stockton students a 3.25. Rutgers students had less regard for their faculty than students at the Uni-versity of Delaware (3.40) though they had higher regard for them than students at Penn State-University Park (2.98). They had higher regard for their faculty than Drexel (2.95), NYU (3.15) and Northeastern (3.05) stu-dents did but also in lower regard than students at Bos-ton University (3.35) and George Washington University (3.34).

While Rutgers does offer numerous and exciting aca-demic opportunities, it should also be noted that many first-year classes are of the traditional lecture-recitation format where graduate students conduct small group sessions following a professor’s presentation. Com-plaints about the English language skills of graduate as-sistants, especially in the sciences, are commonplace on student review sites such as Campus Discovery,

Unigo, College Prowler and Students Review. Those stu-dents who desire to have little less than a professor to motivate and instruct them for the full four years should choose another school. And, while Rutgers has tremen-dous resources for those who seek them, it is not a school that will force them upon you.

8 Alumni RelationsCareer Services

Connections

Fast Facts

1. Rutgers has more than 405,000 living alumni, the seventh-largest alumni base in the country.

2. In 2011-12, the Career Services staff met with nearly 12,000 unique student visitors in over 62,000 appointments.

3. Fifty-five percent of recent graduates work in New Jersey while an additional 10 percent work in New York City.

4. A September, 2010 survey of college recruiters conducted by the Wall Street Journal ranked Rutgers 21st among all large universities, public or private, and fifth among Eastern universities.

5. Alumni association members have access to an extensive benefits program, including more than 50,000 discounts that may be obtained just by presenting a member card.

38

A Network for Life

The career-related programs and services at Rutgers are typi-cal what students would find at universities that charge more than twice the tuition. It also helps that the campus is within a 45-minute train ride from New York City, one of the largest job markets in the country, and is approximately an hour and a half from Philadelphia. New Jersey is also known as the “medicine chest” of the nation; pharmaceuticals and health care are two of the leading industries in the Garden State.

Rutgers’ Career Services center maintains offices on the Col-lege Avenue and Busch Campuses. Counseling services are available at both offices, while on-campus interviewing is con-ducted at Busch. In 2011-12, the Career Services staff met with nearly 12,000 unique student visitors in over 62,000 appoint-ments.

Fifty-five percent of recent graduates work in New Jersey while an additional 10 percent work in New York City. In the 2011 sen-ior survey, 31 percent reported offers before graduation, includ-ing students who participated in on-campus recruiting. Twenty-five percent continue their education after completing their bachelor’s degree.

Connections

39

Rutgers hosts 11 on-campus job fairs and participates in an on-line event with the other Big East schools. Two on-campus events are the January and May New Jersey Collegiate Career Days, which are open to all New Jersey residents, including stu-dents and alumni who attend or graduated from out-of-state schools. As many as 180 employers participate in these events.

The Career Services team also hosts a graduate and profes-sional school fair. The Rutgers Athletic Department also offers a career development event for student-athletes, who, due to their training and practice commitments, do not always have time to attend the other events. 180 companies recruited on campus during the 2011-12 school year, up from 130 the year before.

A September 2010 survey of college recruiters conducted by the Wall Street Journal ranked Rutgers 21st among all large uni-versities, public or private, and fifth among Eastern universities behind Penn State, Maryland, Carnegie Mellon and Cornell. The survey also ranked Rutgers third as a source for business and economics majors, higher than New York University or the University of Pennsylvania, both of which have been perceived to have more prestigious business programs. The results of this survey have value as they are based on comments from people who actually interview the students. Rutgers has also

launched a Wall Street Initiative whereby 50 students interested in finance are assigned mentors and counselors while they also participate in site visits and networking events.

According to Richard White, associate director of career serv-ices, the university has also added majors with the needs of the state’s business community in mind. For example, Rutgers’ bio-medical engineering program was designed in part to serve the needs of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. By 2010, the program graduated 85 seniors and become one of the 20 most popular courses of study at the university. The ma-jor, which started as an offshoot from electrical engineering now has the 2nd largest enrollment for a program of its kind within an U.S. engineering school. Rutgers also launched an undergradu-ate degree in supply chain management that has caught atten-tion from employers as well as an information technology and informatics program

Following the graduation of the class of 2012, Rutgers has more than 405,000 living alumni from the Camden, Newark and New Brunswick campuses, the seventh largest alumni base in the country. Two-thirds reside between New York and Philadel-phia while Chicago and Atlanta also have large young alumni communities. Collectively, alumni organizations run over 500 events each year, with an increased interest in “send-off”

40

events to welcome incoming freshmen at home before they start classes.

All Rutgers graduates are life members of the Rutgers Univer-sity Alumni Association (RUAA). They may join any of 118 char-ter groups by school, region or special interests. Interest groups range from former band and glee club members who gather regularly for their own concerts and reunions to dance and sports-oriented groups where students and alumni can row crew or play roller hockey. Similar to the alumni groups struc-tured at prestigious schools such as Stanford, the charters pro-vide a way for alumni to keep in touch with their alma mater through the activities they enjoyed as students. Association members have access to an extensive benefits program, includ-ing more than 50,000 discounts that may be obtained just by presenting a member card.

The Rutgers LinkedIn Community has more than 25,000 mem-bers, larger than similar communities for Illinois, Maryland, Ohio State or Wisconsin, though smaller than those of others, includ-ing Penn State and NYU. The university’s Facebook page has more than 16,000 “likes.”

9 Summing up Rutgers-New Brunswick

Conclusions

42

Rutgers-New Brunswick has the academic breadth one would find at the most selective public universities while also offering a larger selection of undergraduate housing options than these and other peer institutions.

Rutgers is also one of the most ethnically diverse flagship uni-versities in the country, owing in large part to the diversity of New Jersey. And, being near New York City and Philadelphia, it is one of the best-located state universities for students and alumni seeking internship and career opportunities.

No state university is perfect. While Rutgers may be a least-cost option for bright New Jersey students, in-state tuition is high compared to similar schools, and so is the average net price, though the out-of-state charges are quite competitive. Merit scholarship opportunities are limited.

And while the appearance of the nearby downtown has im-proved dramatically over the last three decades, and Easton Avenue has the some of the same eating and drinking places one might find in Berkeley or Madison, New Brunswick does not have most of the student-oriented shopping options found in these and other college towns that host a large state university, and the city may be unsafe after hours.

But overall, the quality of education, as well as the quality of life, at Rutgers has improved year-by-year under President

Conclusions

43

McCormick’s leadership and should continue to do so under his successor,Robert Barchi.

A freshman retention rate of 95 percent and a six-year gradua-tion rate of 85 percent, typical of a school such as the Univer-sity of Michigan, is not beyond possibility, given improvements in student life, less confusing academic requirements and the various honors and research opportunities. It makes little sense for financially strapped students to consider, for example, NYU, when Rutgers is less expensive and more generous with schol-arship aid, while it shares many of the academic, social and cul-tural advantages of the New York City-based school.

The leading state universities, including Rutgers, also try to pro-tect the history of their campus to ensure that it will wear well over decades, generations, and for Rutgers, centuries. Alumni identify with the history; the happiest expect to pass on that identity to their offspring. Rutgers is not the only large public uni-versity that has tried to protect its roots while managing expan-sion at the same time. However, it may be the only one that has had to preserve so many of the remnants of a heritage drawn from much smaller schools.

The leading state universities never remain static as they fulfill their missions in education, research and public service, mak-ing it difficult for any one school to move up any type of national ranking. Even in the wake of reduced public subsidies, they must maintain academic excellence more than any publicly sup-

ported institution. The commitments to excellence are notice-able when you travel between the campuses at Rutgers--even when you are looking through the window of a crowded campus bus.

To sum up:

Ed Quest’s Report Card: Rutgers-New Brunswick

Freshman Retention

4 YR/6YR Grad Rates

Costs Comforts-Housing

Community-Campus/Environs

Curriculum-Academics/Experiential

Learning

Connections-Alumni Network/Career

Services

A B+ B+ A B+ A A

Strengths Weaknesses

Location

Housing Options

Diversity

Alumni Base

Research opportunities-even for freshmen

Career services

Commitment to students from low-income and middle-income families through EOF and need-based aid

Successful capital campaign to date

Addition of medical schools will help academics and reputation as well as fundraising over the long term

High sticker price for a state university

Limited merit-based aid

Less of a “college town” atmosphere than comparable schools

Not as much of a “sports school” as comparable universities in the major athletic conferences.

Sprawling campus forces dependency on buses

44

10 To receive notices about new and updated profiles visit www.EducatedQuest.com

The End