A Second Major University for New Jersey

Most states with populations similar to or smaller than New Jersey have at least two comprehensive public universities. For example, Michigan has U. of Michigan and Michigan State, North Carolina has U. of North Carolina and N.C. State, Virginia has U. of Virginia and Virginia Tech, Washington has U. of Washington and Washington State. New Jersey has one major state university, Rutgers, a few small universities like NJIT and Rowan, and the state colleges. Some of the state colleges have become larger and have achieved university designation, but their offerings and selectiveness still are not at the level of a comprehensive state university. UMDNJ, while quite large, is a specialty institution. Rutgers has three campuses, but only RU New Brunswick is recognized as a major public university. RU Newark and RU Camden are much smaller in size and in their offerings.

New Jersey is one of the biggest exporters of college students in the U.S. Our border with Pennsylvania is dotted with private colleges who draw a substantial portion of their student body from New Jersey. Public universities in other nearby states also have large student populations from New Jersey. Add to that the dismal level at which New Jersey funds higher education, and we are rightfully seen as unable to provide for the higher education needs of our students. This negative image is more prevalent inside New Jersey than outside and it affects the reputation of New Jersey universities. We have a drain of our high school graduates to other states.

Ironically, most high school districts in New Jersey are considered to be better than the national average. Public education in New Jersey has a strong K-12 component that is not followed by public universities of comparable level.

College tuition has been increasing at a greater pace than inflation, making private college tuition more unaffordable. The population of the U.S. is growing. These factors are increasing the demand for coveted spots in major public universities. In New Jersey, applications to Rutgers New Brunswick for 2008 are much higher than last year. While the primary reason behind this substantial increase is the success of the football team, applications to Rutgers have been steadily increasing for quite a while. In fact, according to SAT averages (as measured by the percentage of enrolled students with SAT scores over certain benchmarks, such as over 500, 600, 700), Rutgers New Brunswick is as or more selective than many of its peers, including Penn State, U. of Delaware, Virginia Tech and Michigan State.

It is essential that New Jersey have a sufficient amount of spots in major public universities to accommodate the talented student body that it graduates from high school. The best way to handle this demand and to enhance the reputation of higher education in New Jersey is to have more and better-funded comprehensive public universities.

In the past few years, there has been an attempt to combine Rutgers, UMDNJ, NJIT and a few other small institutions into a University of New Jersey system. This worthwhile effort, whose objective is to create three comprehensive public universities, got stalled a couple of years ago. I have heard that these days there are renewed talks, which I hope will lead to a successful transformation of our public higher education system. As an aside, if the state is really interested in creating a nationally ranked U. of N.J. system, it should commit the resources that are needed for developing comprehensive and nationally ranked universities.

In the event that the efforts for a U. of N.J. system are not productive, I suggest that we proceed with a simpler project: let us form a second major comprehensive public university in New Jersey by merging Rutgers Newark and NJIT, and by expanding their offerings and enrollment.

The infrastructure for such a merger is already there. Rutgers Newark and NJIT are very close to each other. Both their campuses, which are in the University Heights section of Newark, are virtually interconnected. Their focus is different so there would be little duplication. Their admission standards are not that much different. Their courses are cross-listed and students at NJIT have been taking courses from Rutgers Newark and vice versa for many years. There is no compelling reason for having two small separate public universities so close to each other and not combined into one major public university. The state could provide the funds to establish or expand departments and programs that are traditionally found in a comprehensive public university but do not exist at Rutgers Newark and NJIT, or currently are very small. Add to that enhanced support for research and for hiring strong faculty and the result will be a university with more prominence and a stronger reputation than the individual reputations of NJIT and Rutgers Newark combined.

The city of Newark also stands to benefit from such a merger. Having a higher profile university leads to more classes, conferences, cultural and educational activities, all of which bring more people and resources to Newark, making the city more attractive and prosperous. The revitalization of downtown New Brunswick would not have been as successful if Rutgers were not there.

There will be objections from academics and politicians. There will be turf battles and other issues. Rutgers Newark will not want to give up its Rutgers affiliation and NJIT will not want to lose its independence. Ultimately, though, the primary objective should be to do what is in the best interest of New Jersey and to serve the needs of its talented and growing student population.