University officials announced today that more than10,550 students are enrolled for the 2007-2008 academic year, and that all residential space on the campus is filled including University Square, the 13-story residence hall it opened only last September.
Provost Steven J. Diner credits the record-high enrollments and transfers to students who value the Rutgers name but prefer our small, manageable campus and also like our urban location and our diversity. Moreover, he says, These students are attracted to the economic, cultural and political resurgence of Newark and believe it is a vibrant place to live and study. Diner also cites the diversity of the campus as a lure for students and faculty alike. Step foot on this campus, and you experience the world. As the nation's most diverse national university campus -- so ranked by U.S. News and World Report since 1997 -- we educate students from more than 70 nations, creating a stimulating learning and teaching environment.
He also notes, Newark is no longer a commuter college town but is rapidly becoming a residential town for students. We are at 103 percent capacity in housing, and were tripling up some first-year students.
Rutgers-Newarks centennial officially takes place in 2008, the 100th anniversary of the opening of the New Jersey Law School -- the first of the schools that would become the University of Newark, which in turn merged with Rutgers University to become the State University of New Jersey in 1946. Rutgers-Newark is offering a number of programs and events for the 100th anniversary year to commemorate the importance of higher education in New Jerseys largest city. (Information at www.newark.rutgers.edu/century)
Over the past 100 years, as the city has evolved, so has Rutgers University in Newark, and we are both an agent of the changes and a beneficiary of those changes, explains Diner, pointing to Rutgers expansion into downtown Newark through construction of University Square, the planned relocation of the Rutgers Business School to 1 Washington Park in 2009, and a proposal to convert the former law school, at 15 Washington Street, into graduate student housing.
These all tie in to the goal to make R-N the college of choice for students who want a rich urban experience as part of their college education, as well as for students who embrace diversity and realize its educational, social and economic importance, explains Diner.