What's new at NJ, NY and PA colleges

Admissions representatives from several universities shared highlights of what’s new at their institutions at the NJACAC fall kickoff. 

The Rider representative talked about:

•  Special activities to commemorate the college’s 150^th anniversary, including a gala, special performances, the breaking of a Guinness world record for the longest string of cranberries.
•  The Westminster Choir College getting a new building. 
• Sports management being offered as a new co-major.
• The Musical Theater degree becoming a Bachelors in Fine Arts, requiring an application by January 1.
• The current college president retiring on June 30th and the search for a replacement.

The Rutgers representative spoke of:

• The opening of the Residential Honors College housing for 500 students and faculty in September 2015. 
• Mason Gross having a new digital film making major starting in 2015.
•  Rutgers planning for a 2016 celebration of their 250^th anniversary.

Lehigh:

• Will be celebrating their 150^th anniversary in 2015 with a Lehigh vs. Lafayette football game in Yankee Stadium. 
• Has purchased two Bethlehem Steel buildings and turned them into research space. 
• Has a new college president who came from the University of Virginia. 
• Is in the midst of a one billion dollar capital campaign.

NYU:

·         Has fully integrated the engineering school into the university. Has new majors including Design and Performance Study, and an interdisciplinary Business and Film/TV.

·         Is looking for a new president. 

TCNJ:

·         Is building a Campus Town Center which will open in August.  It will have a first floor with Panera,Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and a pizza place, and a second floor housing 430 TCNJ students. 

·         Has a new STEM facility housing natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. 

·         Will be switching to a 4-1-4 schedule to encourage a higher 4-year graduation rate and to give more students the opportunity to study abroad. 

·         Will require students to complete the CSS PROFILE in order to get financial aid.  They expect this will enable them to give more aid to students whose families make between $75K and $150K per year.

The Rowan representative spoke of:

•  Bringing in five companies, including Lockheed Martin, on property Rowan owns next to the college campus so students can do research and work with those companies.
• Two new med schools and the integration of medical studies with arts, business, and STEM.  Students can get accepted into medical school right after high school; the med schools are focusing on community/family medicine. 
•  The freshman class being 40% bigger than last year. 
• Rowan focusing on improving their graduation rate and having a goal to reach a 90% graduation rate.