Rutgers Continues Investment in the Future of the University with Approval of New Business School Building on the New Brunswick Campus
The state-of-the-art facility will accommodate growing enrollment of business majors and expansion of academic programs
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Board of Governors of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, today approved the construction of a new facility for the Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick (RBS) on the Livingston Campus in Piscataway. It will be the centerpiece of the long-term plan to redevelop the Livingston Campus into a center for business and professional studies.In the fall of 2008, the Rutgers Business School inaugurated a four-year undergraduate program on the New Brunswick Campus for the first time since it began offering degrees in 1986. Prior to this time, undergraduates could apply only to an upper-level, two-year business program at the end of their sophomore year.
During that first year, the school received more than 11,000 applications for fewer than 300 seats. The increasing demand for business education by promising New Jersey high school graduates far exceeds the current capacity at the Rutgers Business School on the New Brunswick Campus, which now occupies 34,000 square feet in a portion of the 21-year old Janice H. Levin Building on the Livingston Campus.
“Over the next several years, we anticipate that enrollment in the Rutgers Business School will increase from the current level of 1,900 students to 3,200 undergraduates,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick.
The young people seeking admission to the undergraduate program of the business school in New Brunswick are among the best and brightest of New Jersey high school students. The average high school student admitted to the program is in the top 10% of his or her class and has a mean SAT score of 1955.
“We want to be sure that Rutgers can accommodate these high-performing and highly motivated New Jersey students,” McCormick said. “The business school also will expand the programs offered to graduate and continuing professional education students. It is vital that we invest wisely and strategically in the facilities and programs our students and faculty need to meet a growing demand.”
The $85 million project attracted the largest private gift in Rutgers University history – $10 million from a donor who wished to remain anonymous – which will be used to help fund its construction. The balance will be funded by revenue from increased enrollment in the business school.
The proposed building will feature 156,000 square feet of classrooms, lecture halls, instructional labs, meeting spaces, student lounges, faculty offices, a business library and a trading floor.
Rutgers and Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos – whose team won the College Avenue Campus design competition in 2005 – have mutually agreed to apply the firm’s commission to the business school project on Livingston.
Following the design and engineering process, it is anticipated that construction will begin in late spring 2011 and the building will be ready for occupation in the fall semester of 2013. The project, from start to finish, is expected to create approximately 800 construction-related jobs.
The revitalization of the Livingston Campus already has begun with the recent opening of a renovated and expanded student center. In addition, construction has started on a new Livingston Dining Commons and apartment-style residential housing for 1,500 students will be built on Livingston. The Dining Commons will be completed by fall 2011 and the new student housing will be ready for occupation by the start of the fall 2012 semester.
Media Contact: E.J. Miranda
732-932-7084, ext. 623
E-mail: emiranda@ur.rutgers.edu