Our History

Established and approved by the Rutgers University Board of Governors in 1992, the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy serves as one of the nation’s key centers for the theory and practice of planning and public policy scholarship and analysis.

Edward J. Bloustein was the seventeenth president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from New York University and received his law and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell. After teaching at NYU and serving as President of Bennington College, he was appointed President of Rutgers in 1971.

Many observers of higher education believe that, under Dr. Bloustein’s presidency, Rutgers reached a “Golden Age.” His tenure as Rutgers’ president began in the midst of student protests over Vietnam and ended with protests over proposed increases in student tuition, but the intervening years saw the university expand its research facilities, attract internationally known scholars, and achieve distinction as one of the major public research universities in the nation. In February 1989, the university was invited to join 56 other prestigious academic institutions that make up the Association of American Universities. It was this kind of recognition that Edward Bloustein worked so diligently for Rutgers during his 18 years in office. This was the same year in which Dr. Bloustein passed away.

Founding of the School and Academic Programs

“It is a commonplace of educational philosophy that a university, especially a major state university, should encourage the application of knowledge to social purpose. It is in this process of public policy analysis that the resources of higher education can be invaluable….”

The establishment of the School of Planning and Public Policy was one of Dr. Bloustein’s last acts as president, and it was named in his honor in 1992. Citing his leadership in establishing partnerships between the university, state, and private sector as well as his great involvement in the public service mission of the university, the Rutgers Board of Governors noted that he often spoke of the need for a school to serve local and state public policy concerns and of the importance of community service as part of a liberal education.

With its graduate urban planning program ranked nationally, an accredited graduate public policy program, the undergraduate public health program ranked 4th nationally, and new research interests in health administration, public administration, and public informatics added more recently, the Bloustein School is committed to a rebirth of the public service ethic in the United States. The ethic focuses on good civic design in its broadest sense, encompassing such endeavors as housing, transportation, workforce development, public health, economic development, ecological balance, and social justice for the disadvantaged. The school supports a wide variety of educational activities, including undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs, continuing education and conferences for professionals and alumni, and a range of research centers focused on major planning and policy issues.

Academics at the Bloustein School

The disciplines and professions of urban planning, public policy, public health, health administration and public informatics are strongly situated in an educational context that stresses social science education and public service. The Bloustein School grants B.A. and B.S. degrees in five majors, four Master’s degrees, and, through the Rutgers School of Graduate Studies, a Ph.D. in Planning and Public Policy.

Academic Community

The Bloustein School educates a highly select group of students and prepares them for careers in the public, nonprofit and for-profit sectors, teaching and research professions, and service at all levels of government. Alumni of the school are employed in areas of planning, land use, politics, public and community health, employment and social policy, human services, transportation, housing, urban policy and international development.

Research

Faculty, staff and students conduct research on critical issues facing the world, country, state, and neighborhoods. Researchers study climate change, poverty, inequality, housing finance, community development, transportation, health, immigration, education, urban design, statistics, and government funding and budgeting, expanding the school’s public service mission and providing students with opportunities for research on some of the most critical planning and public policy issues.

Undergraduate Programs

The undergraduate programs at the Bloustein School began during the 1960s with the opening of Livingston College. The Urban Studies and Community Development (USCD) major was enormously popular, hosting large numbers of minority and nontraditional students. During the 1970s, several faculty members developed interests in community health, and a new, accredited Public Health Administration major began in 1976. Over the course of the next decade, Social Work and Journalism emerged as new majors, and these were removed from USCD. By 1980, USCD was renamed the Department of Urban Studies and Community Health (USCH) and offered two undergraduate majors: a pre-professional (accredited) BS in Public Health Administration, and a liberal arts BA in Urban Studies.

The majors were offered in conjunction with four of the New Brunswick undergraduate colleges, with Cook declining to accept the Urban Studies major.

During the mid-1980s, USCH and Environmental Science (Cook College) agreed to participate in the fledgling New Jersey Graduate Program in Public Health (NJGPPH), a joint creation of Rutgers–New Brunswick and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Selected Rutgers faculty had coterminous appointments and graduate teaching assignments at UMDNJ, and both the EJB and NJGPPH deans signed the MPH degrees issued by UMDNJ.

In addition, the Bloustein School transitioned from offering the Public Health Administration major to one in Public Health during this time. The change reflected both the link with the NJGPPH, the difficulty offering the business courses required for continued accreditation, and changes in faculty expertise. In 1999, the NJGPPH became the UMDNJ School of Public Health (UMDNJ-SPH) and faculty relationships between the two universities began to diminish. With the merger of the two universities in 2013, the UMDNJ-SPH became the Rutgers School of Public Health. In 2015, full authority for the MPH degree was transferred to the Rutgers-SPH School of Public Health.

By 2000, the number of Urban Studies majors was in decline. The faculty responded by converting the Urban Studies major into Planning and Public Policy in 2005. That year, the college system in New Brunswick was consolidated into the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). This reorganization resulted in EJB seeing a dramatic decrease in the number of transfer, returning adult, and nontraditional students because SAS and SEBS became gatekeepers to upper-division schools. In 2011, the vice president for Undergraduate Education supported the professional schools in their effort to provide upper-level direct admission. The Bloustein School began direct admission for public health in the fall of that year, hiring several instructional staff to serve more students. Online and hybrid courses were developed to serve the needs of nontraditional students and off-campus courses were scheduled at Atlantic Cape and Brookdale community colleges in spring 2012. Today, all Bloustein School majors are available to transfer students, including international students. In 2013 the Planning and Public Policy major was made available to SAS students from the South China University of Technology (SCUT). As of 2016, SCUT students could transfer directly to the Bloustein School for the Public Policy major.

Following what was considered one of the worst economic downturns to affect the country, surveys of students majoring in planning and public policy indicated that many were interested in focusing on solely public policy or urban planning. In response, the faculty voted for a new Public Policy minor that was implemented in fall 2011, and a Public Policy major in the fall of 2013. A new major in Urban Planning and Design was also offered, beginning in the fall of 2015.

Renewed interest in the improvement of the health and well-being of populations across the globe resulted in an unprecedented explosion in the undergraduate public health population. By 2014, the school was offering public health certificate programs in long-term care administration, public health preparedness, public health education, addictions prevention, and public health administration. With nearly one-quarter of all public health majors seeking courses in public health administration, the faculty began developing a plan for a major in Health Administration, with a heavy focus on the ethical, economic, and operational sides of the public health field. Health Administration generated interest immediately, new faculty members were hired, and students began taking the first courses in the fall of 2015.

The demand for the Public Health major, at Rutgers and across the nation, led to the decision by the Council for Education in Public Health (CEPH) to offer accreditation of undergraduate programs. Following a two-year process, in the summer of 2016 the Bloustein School became one of the first four schools in the country to have its stand-alone baccalaureate public health program receive CEPH accreditation. Almost simultaneously, College Factual ranked the school’s program as #4 of the top 50 U.S. colleges for a major in public health. In a more comprehensive national assessment conducted in 2017-18, College Factual ranked the public health degree program #7 of 100 nationwide, and was ranked #1 for non-traditional students and #1 for veterans.

The Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development

City and regional planning at Rutgers has its intellectual roots dating back a century. Harland Bartholomew, known as the “dean of city planners” in the twentieth century, attended Rutgers College of Engineering in 1911.

As the knowledge required by planners grew in breadth and complexity, professional planning training often moved from schools of engineering and architecture to separate planning-focused units. This was true nationally, as well as at Rutgers.

Rutgers created the Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development (UPPD) in 1967 on the newly created Kilmer Campus. UPPD was originally located physically on the Rutgers Campus in New Brunswick (third floor of the old Engineering Building on the Voorhees Mall, now Murray Hall) before moving in 1968 across the Raritan River to its new home within Livingston College on the Kilmer Campus (later renamed the Livingston Campus) in Piscataway.

Administratively, UPPD was placed under the Livingston College dean and a broad unit within the college, known as the Division of Urban Studies. However, the MCRP degree was awarded by the Graduate School of Rutgers in New Brunswick. The original 1967 faculty members were Lawrence D. Mann (chair), George Sternlieb, Norman Williams, David Popenoe, and Donald A. Krueckeberg. Early UPPD faculty members Richard Brail, Salah El-Shakhs, and Susan Fainstein all recollect that UPPD’s mission was forged in the tempestuous cauldron of the late 1960s’ urban unrest and the desire to address, through research and service, the inequalities underlying it.

Over the decades, there have been numerous changes with regard to UPPD. After various academic realignments within Rutgers, UPPD became one of the two master’s programs, joining Public Policy, in the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, which itself was formed in 1992. With its creation, the Bloustein School then awarded the professional MCRP degree. From 1995 until the present, UPPD (Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development) has been in the resplendent Bloustein building at Civic Square in downtown New Brunswick—a long way and big improvement from having held classes first in a modest former World War II Army building at Livingston College (Building 4051) and then (1971–1995) at Livingston’s bemoaned cast concrete and Brutalist modern Lucy Stone Hall.

While changes have occurred in the Planning program over the nearly five decades of its existence, there are a number of constants. It is one of the nation’s premier planning graduate programs. From its formation through 2016, it has granted approximately 2,140 master’s degrees in this discipline. The program has been reviewed and accredited (1987, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2014) with the highest accolades by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). In 2011 and again in 2019, the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs named Bloustein’s UPPD program number 3 among the nation’s 80 ranked planning schools. Since 2009, the Bloustein School has been ranked among the top 10 schools in the nation.

Another constant is UPPD’s diversity and academic excellence. Drawn from graduate training in many disciplines—from planning to law, economics, and geography—UPPD professors have blazed paths in important research on many fronts. Faculty members have regularly conducted studies for the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, and other prestigious research funding entities; have authored numerous monographs identified by the American Planning Association (APA) as core to “The Essential Planning Library”; have often written annual “best articles” in the APA Journal; and been editors of this journal and others in geography, policy, and related disciplines. UPPD professors are not armchair academics. They were instrumental in crafting New Jersey’s heralded Mount Laurel response to affordable housing and routinely testify before legislative bodies in Washington, D.C., Trenton, and elsewhere.

UPPD faculty take teaching and mentoring responsibilities seriously. Before his passing in 2013 retired UPPD professor Jerry Rose, who taught a gateway planning-law class for many years, remarked, “I enjoyed teaching. . . . I felt exhilarated during class and gratified at the end of each class.” UPPD has benefited from the able stewardship of its chairpersons and directors, which included (in chronological order) the following professors: Larry Mann, Melvin Levin, Jerry Rose, Donald Krueckeberg, Susan Fainstein, James Hughes, Richard Brail, Hooshang Amirahmadi, Lyna Wiggins, Clinton Andrews, Robert Burchell, and Kathe Newman.

UPPD students are similarly varied, talented, and accomplished. The most recent entering UPPD class did undergraduate work in 30 states and 15 foreign countries. UPPD graduates have attained the most senior planning positions across the United States and internationally in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Examples include chief of staff of a United Nations agency, vice president at the World Bank, principals of national professional planning firms, and director (three incumbencies) of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

UPPD’s mission and worldview have endured. This gestalt of the diversity of planning and the role of the discipline as an agent of change, a perspective expressed and excerpted below from a 30-year-old UPPD catalog, remain true today:

Diverse disciplines—reflected in the backgrounds of incoming students, in the positions filled by graduates, in the academic and professional pursuits of the faculty—exemplify the . . . Graduate Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development at Rutgers. This intentional diversity sets the direction for the department, to seek a variety of approaches and expressions in exploring the dimensions of urban and regional questions and in preparing responses. . . . The department assumes that the planner’s goal is to achieve social improvement. And it reasons that, in today’s world, effort requires competence in dealing with socioeconomic problems as well as with the physical and natural concerns of traditional planning.

It is most fitting that UPPD is in the Bloustein School because its namesake, Dr. Bloustein, shared a similar view of diversity, excellence, and service. As expressed by the Rutgers Board of Governors, Edward J. Bloustein “was always in pursuit of excellence. He dared us to be better than we were . . . and often spoke of the need to serve the local and state policy concerns.”

Concurrent with the Bloustein School’s 25th anniversary, in 2016, the Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development celebrated 50 years of teaching planning to the students at Rutgers University.

The Program in Public Policy

From 1956 to 1992, the political science department on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus offered a professionally oriented Master of Arts (MA) in Political Science with a focus on politics and public policy. Significant financial support was provided by the Eagleton Institute of Politics, where the program was housed and administered.

The curriculum was significantly reformed during the 1978–1979 academic year and a new curriculum introduced during the 1979–1980 academic year. The new curriculum emphasized public policy analysis and quantitative methods for policy research. A capstone practicum course was also added. From 1980 to 1992, the program of study under the MA professional concentration in politics and public policy remained essentially unchanged.

In September of 1992, the Department of Public Policy was formed and Carl Van Horn was appointed founding chair. The department was comprised principally of faculty who were previously affiliated with the professional master’s programs in the Political Science department.

During the 1992–1993 academic year, Department of Public Policy faculty developed and received approval for the establishment of a two-year Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree at the Bloustein School. This new degree program added courses in methods of policy analysis and quantitative methods, economics, and a summer field internship between the first and second year of full-time study. The one-year professional master’s degree program in political science also continued during this period of transition. Responsibility for administering the program shifted from Eagleton Institute to the Bloustein School.

To meet the needs of students who already had several years of professional experience working in government and nonprofit institutions, public policy faculty also created a 30-credit (one-year) Master of Public Affairs and Politics (MPAP) degree that was offered by the Bloustein School.

From 1992 to 1998, most of the students were enrolled in the MPAP program. The first student was admitted to the two-year MPP program in 1997 and graduated in 1999.

Since then, however, the two-year MPP degree has grown and become the central focus of the Bloustein School’s Program in Public Policy. The program has grown steadily: Now, approximately 25 to 30 MPP students and a handful of MPAP students are admitted each year. Fourteen full-time faculty members are affiliated with the program. While the program continues to send graduates to jobs in New Jersey State and other state governments, they also work in Washington, D.C., and around the world. The Bloustein School now offers more than a dozen concentrations and joint degrees with Rutgers Law School, Rutgers Business School, the Rutgers School of Public Health, and its own Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development.

In 2011 the MPP degree was accredited by NASPAA. This accreditation is part of a broader effort to grow the program and expand its reach. It is intended that the MPP program will continue to gain attention for its overall excellence in public policy and particular expertise in social policy and community development in the years ahead.

The Program in Health Administration

In tandem with the creation of the undergraduate major in Health Administration in 2015, University Professor and Undergraduate Program Director Raphael J. Caprio recognized the need for providing advanced training to professionals already in the field.

In January 2017, the Bloustein School enrolled its first cohort of graduate students in the Executive track of the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program. The two-year, cohort-based track is designed for the health professional with five or more years of experience in the field. The traditional track of the MHA program began enrolling students in the fall of 2017, and is designed for students who have completed a bachelor’s degree, have less than five years of experience in the healthcare industry, or are seeking to make a career change and complete the program at their own pace on a full- or part-time basis. The two tracks seek to prepare students for leadership and management positions in governmental, nonprofit, public and private organizations.

In the first year of course offerings, more than 100 students applied to the two programs, with an initial enrollment of 80 students. The traditional Master of Health Administration program received accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) in the spring of 2020.

In early 2023, the Bloustein School Master of Health Administration received national recognition, earning #32 ranking among graduate health administration programs in U.S. News and World Report. It was also ranked #1 in New Jersey.

The Program in Urban and Public Informatics

The school’s curriculum has always required intensive study of data analysis and multivariate methods, and as students mastered these skills, more challenging applications of data analysis and interpretation were added. The urban planning and public policy programs initially developed a concentration in public informatics as student interest in the field developed.

In 2019, the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) was created to specifically provide a vehicle for educating students in the competencies needed in the field of big data: context, statistics, programming, data management, data analytics, visualization, spatial analysis, applications and the integration of these skills. Created under the direction of research professor emeritus Frank Felder, the addition of a big data program to the school’s portfolio has enabled students to break the barriers that have existed between traditionally siloed research areas by using big data to understand complex urban and social policy issues in new ways.

Applications of the program include all of the school’s major areas of study, including the realms of transportation, environmental management, urban design, mobility, social policy, public management and operations, public health, health administration, and community engagement and empowerment.

Continued interest in data analytics from students in both the urban planning and public policy degree fields led to the development of a three-year degree in each field (MPP/MPI and MCRP/MPI). Admission to these dual-degree programs is highly selective and requires simultaneous, separate applications to and acceptance by each program, with students completing 60 credits in a minimum of two and a half years of full-time study.

For students not ready to commit to a full master’s program, in fall 2020 the school developed the post-baccalaureate Certificate in Public and Urban Informatics. This 12-credit program allows non-matriculated students, who have completed an undergraduate degree from an accredited program, to enhance their data and informatics skills to the application of planning and public policy topics. At the successful completion of the certificate, students would have the option to apply for the 36-credit master’s program and, if admitted, use the credits toward the degree requirements.

The PhD Program in Planning and Public Policy

The PhD degree in Urban Planning was inaugurated at Rutgers in 1968, only one year after establishment of the Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) degree in the newly formed Department of Urban Planning. Unlike the professional master’s degrees, the PhD is conferred by the Graduate School–New Brunswick, and doctoral dissertations completed in the program are submitted through the Graduate School. The first doctoral degrees were awarded within three years of the program’s founding to James Hughes and Robert Burchell in 1971.

In 1978, the name of the doctoral program was changed to the PhD in Urban Planning and Policy Development, reflecting the programmatic emphasis on policy and politics that has characterized urban planning at Rutgers since its inception. The name was changed again in 2007 to the PhD in Planning and Public Policy, solidifying the PhD program’s role in bridging the planning and policy sides of the Bloustein School.

Professor Larry Mann was named the first director of the PhD program in 1968. Subsequent program directors included Salah El-Shakhs (1972–1979); Susan Fainstein (1979–1981 and 1990–2001); Robert Beauregard (1981–1990); David Listokin (2002–2009); Robert Lake (2009–15); and Robert Noland (2015-present).

The size and pace of the PhD program consistently expanded over the course of its history. From a program granting two or three doctorates annually over its first two decades, the number of conferred doctoral degrees increased to six per year on average between 1995 and 2009 and to ten per year since 2010. Topics addressed in doctoral dissertations generally mirrored substantive shifts and methodological trends over time in the disciplines of planning and public policy. Dissertations in the early years tended to explore applied planning problems through the application of quantitative modeling, while later years saw the expansion of research questions and methods reflecting the broader fields of urban planning and policy studies. Bloustein doctoral students received the Best Dissertation in Planning award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008 and the Best Dissertation in International Planning award in 2011.

Graduates of the doctoral program have found employment in leading private-sector firms, in senior management positions in public agencies and nonprofit organizations, and in academic institutions throughout the United States and abroad. Bloustein PhD graduates occupy senior positions at the United Nations, World Bank, African Development Bank, European Commission, U.S. Foreign Service, Federal Reserve, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, among other global and national institutions. Graduates of the program hold academic positions in twenty states and seventeen nations around the globe.

Since 2009, the doctoral program has hosted the annual Krueckeberg Doctoral Conference at the Bloustein School, commemorating the late Professor Donald Krueckeberg’s many contributions to the PhD program and providing doctoral students with a forum for presenting their research.

In May 2016, the Bloustein School conferred the 190th Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Planning and Public Policy granted at Rutgers University. This is a significant milestone in the history of a program that has grown substantially in breadth and intellectual quality since the establishment of a PhD in Urban Planning at Rutgers nearly a half-century ago.

The Korea Development Institute Scholars Program

In January 2001, the Bloustein School entered into a partnership to accept students from the School of Public Policy and Management of the Korea Development Institute (KDI) into the Master of City and Regional Studies (MCRS) degree program. In 2016, the school began accepting applicants into its Master of Public Affairs and Politics (MPAP) degree in public policy as well.

The KDI School of Public Policy and Management was established in 1998 to meet the educational needs of government and business leaders in a globalizing world economy. The school is a collaborative effort between the Korea Development Institute, founded 30 years ago as Korea’s premier policy research organization, and the Korean government. Classes at the KDI School, which attracts students from Asia and around the world, are conducted in English. Approximately 40 percent of the student body is comprised of international students. As part of their two-year masters course, KDI School students are required to spend one year at an overseas university.

Rutgers and the Bloustein School are very well known in Korean academic and planning/policy circles, and offer KDI students an excellent opportunity to broaden their knowledge and practical skills through the combination of coursework and professional internship. Approximately 8-15 students arrive each spring to spend a year at the Bloustein School and immerse themselves in the MCRS and/or MPAP degree programs.

KDI school students apply to the Bloustein School’s Master of City and Regional Studies (MCRS) or Master of Public Affairs and Politics (MPAP), a one-year program of study in planning and policy development and in public policy. The purpose of the programs is to offer selected students at KDI the chance to study policy, public affairs, city, and regional planning and development, obtaining a master’s degree, and concentrate on a field of interest.

Chronology of Major Events at the Bloustein School

1946 – First undergraduate courses in Urban Planning taught at Rutgers

1950 – Establishment of the Bureau of Government Research (predecessor to Center for Government Services)

1956 – Establishment of Master of Arts (MA) in Political Science (Politics and Public Policy track)

1959 – Establishment of the Urban Studies Center (predecessor to the Center for Urban Policy Research [1969])

1967 – Rutgers creates Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development on the College Avenue Campus

Establishment of Master of City and Regional Planning; Master of Science (MS) in City and Regional Planning

1968 – Establishment of MS in Urban Planning; Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Urban Studies;

BA in Community Development; Department of Urban Planning moves to the Kilmer Campus

1969 – Establishment of PhD in Urban Planning; Larry Mann named first director of the PhD program

1976 – Establishment of Bachelor of Science (BS) in Public Health

1977 – Establishment of the New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute

1978 – Name change to PhD in Urban Planning and Policy Development

1980 – Urban Studies and Community Development major evolves into Department of Urban Studies and Community Health, offering two undergraduate majors

1981 – Establishment of Eagleton Institute of Politics program for MS in Political Science students (Politics and Public Policy track—predecessor to the Public Policy program)

Establishment of School of Urban and Regional Policy under the Faculty of Professional Studies (established as part of the New Brunswick Campus academic reorganization)

1983 – Establishment of the joint graduate program in public health with UMDNJ; Master of Public Health

1986 – Establishment of the Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (Newark Campus)

1987 – Urban Planning Program accredited for 5 years

1988 – Faculty of Planning established; PhD in Public Health; Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

1989 – Mark Lapping appointed dean of the Faculty of Planning

First Rutgers Regional Report issued

1992 – Urban Planning program accredited for 5 years

Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/ECON™) established
School of Planning established by Board of Governors; Mark Lapping appointed dean
National Transit Institute established
James W. Hughes appointed acting associate dean of School of Planning
Department of Public Policy formed
School named for Edward J. Bloustein

1993 – James W. Hughes appointed associate dean of Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy (Bloustein School)

Board of Governors approves the establishment of the Department of Public Policy within the Bloustein School
Two-year Master of Public Policy (MPP) approved

1994 – James W. Hughes appointed acting dean of Bloustein School

1995 – Rutgers Board of Governors approves name change of MA in Political Science (Politics and Public Policy track) to MS in Public Policy

1995 – James W. Hughes appointed dean of Bloustein School

School moved to Civic Square Building in downtown New Brunswick

1996 – Dedication of Civic Square Building

Reorganization of the New Brunswick Campus, including decentralization of graduate program management to deans of professional schools from dean of the Graduate School

1997 – Board of Governors approves new Master of Public Policy degree program

Urban Planning program accredited for 5 years
Board of Governors approves establishment of the Center for Employment Policy and Workforce Development

1998 – First Sitar/Rutgers Regional Report issued

John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development named
Board of Governors approves the establishment and naming of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC)
National Transit Institute becomes part of VTC and Bloustein School

1999 – Approval of name changes from MS in Urban Planning and MS in Public Policy to Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) and Master of Public Affairs and Politics (MPAP)

External Review of Bloustein School
Board of Governors approves establishment of the National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfields Redevelopment

2000 – University’s CSPAD committee accepts recommendations of external review, and Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR) becomes part of the Bloustein School

2001 – New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute becomes part of the Bloustein School at CUPR

Strategic Planning process completed and reorganization begins, including establishing schoolwide faculty and addition of CUPR to the school
HIV Prevention Community Planning Support and Development Initiative established at the Bloustein School

2003 – Establishment of the Center for Energy, Environmental, and Economic Policy

Urban Planning program accredited for 5 years

2005 – Establishment of Bloustein Center for Survey Research (moved from Eagleton Poll to become part of Bloustein School)

2006 – Establishment of the Rutgers Center for Green Building

2007 – Change in name of PhD program from Urban Planning and Policy Development to Planning and Public Policy

2008 – Urban Planning program accredited for 5 years

Establishment of the Center for Transportation Safety, Security, and Risk

2009 – Establishment of the Center for Planning Practice

First Advance & Rutgers Regional Report issued

2011 – Public Policy program receives first accreditation from NASPAA (National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration)

Establishment and naming of the Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement
First directly admitted transfer students accepted into undergraduate Public Health major

2012 – School celebrates 20th Anniversary of its founding

2013 – Public Policy undergraduate major is approved by Board of Governors in spring; first students admitted to program in September

Bloustein Local Government Research Center established

2014 – Public Health major begins accreditation process

Heath Administration undergraduate major is approved by Board of Governors in spring; first students admitted to program in September
Urban Planning program receives highest marks for reaccreditation; program accredited for 7 years

2015 – Rutgers University celebrates 250^th anniversary

Urban Planning & Design undergraduate major is approved by Board of Governors in spring; first students admitted to program in September

2016 – Bloustein School celebrates 25^th anniversary in fall; Urban Planning program celebrates 50^th anniversary

James W. Hughes announces his retirement as dean of Bloustein School; search for new dean commences
Rutgers Board of Governors approves Master in Health Administration program
Public Health undergraduate major ranked #4 of 50 U.S. colleges ranked for a public health major by College Factual
Public Health major becomes one of the first four schools in the nation to have its standalone baccalaureate public health program receive accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health

2017 – Executive Master in Health Administration begins admitting students in January

James W. Hughes appointed University Professor by Rutgers Board of Governors; returns to teaching faculty in July
Michael R. Greenberg, long-time Associate Dean of Faculty, appointed as Interim Dean as international dean search commences.
Master in Health Administration traditional degree begins admitting students in September
Minor in Public Administration is established

2018 – Piyushimita (Vonu) Thakuriah appointed Dean, effective Oct. 1, 2018

Public Health undergraduate major ranked #7 of 100 U.S. colleges ranked for a public health major by College Factual
Public Health undergraduate major ranked 1 out of 102 U.S. colleges for veteran friendliness/providing quality education in public health for veterans by College Factual.
Public Health undergraduate major ranked 1 out of 95 U.S. colleges for returning adults and non-traditional students by College Factual.
Rutgers Board of Governors approves Master of Public Informatics program (October)

2019 – Master of Urban and Public Informatics program begins admitting students in September

Undergraduate minor in Medical Ethics and Health Policy established
Dual degree programs for MCRP/MPI and MPP/MPI are approved and begin accepting enrollments
Dual degree program in Master of Social Work/Master of Public Policy approved and begins accepting enrollments
School creates Educational Priorities and Strategic Marketing and Communications Committees to guide future investments in education, research, and philanthropy
Market study for creation of fully on-line Master of Public Informatics conducted; course conversion for implementation begins

2020 – COVID-19 pandemic hits United States (March)

Rutgers Urban and Civic Informatics Laboratory (RUCI Lab) established.
All graduate and undergraduate courses throughout Rutgers University are moved to virtual format for remainder of Spring semester, effective March 23; Bloustein School successfully transitions to a fully online, remote work/learning mode
Rutgers issues announcement that majority of graduate and undergraduate classes will be conducted virtually in Fall semester; Bloustein School commits additional student services, academic advising, online technology, network connectivity, software applications, and hardware resources in support of virtual learning
Jonathan Holloway appointed 21st president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, on July 1, 2020
12-credit Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Public Policy and Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Urban and Public Informatics created for non-matriculated students

2021 – COVID-19 pandemic continues

Classes continue in a virtual format through Spring 2021
March 2021, Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announces full return to campus for Fall 2021, with robust plans to protect the safety and health of our students, faculty, staff, and host communities.
September 2021, Bloustein School reopens with 75% of classes (graduate and undergraduate) operating as in-person or virtual-hybrid, offering one of the highest percentages across the university

2022 – Piyushimita (Vonu) Thakuriah steps down as Dean, effective Jan. 2022; Stuart Shapiro appointed Interim Dean

COVID-19 pandemic continues with rise of Omicron variant; Rutgers reopens spring semester in temporary virtual mode through January 30.
Rutgers and Bloustein School return fully in-person for September 2022
Bloustein School 30th anniversary year commences September 1, 2022

2023 – Stuart Shapiro appointed as Dean, effective April 21, 2023.

Undergraduate minor in Disability Studies is established

About Us

Mission

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the Bloustein School

Our Location

Facilities

Bloustein School Leadership

Academic Realignment Plan

Faculty

Administrative Staff

Advisory Board

Civic Square Building - Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy

The Civic Square Building

Since 1995, the Bloustein School has been located in the Civic Square Building in downtown New Brunswick. The construction of the Bloustein School’s home realized Dr. Bloustein’s vision that Rutgers University would one day occupy a physical position in the cultural and economic hub of New Brunswick, New Jersey, the host city of Rutgers’ flagship campus.

One of the state’s most significant areas for education, health care, and the arts, New Brunswick is home to Rutgers’ historic Old Queen’s campus; Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The Bloustein School itself is located in New Brunswick’s thriving cultural area, with The State Theater of New Jersey and the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center just steps away. Downtown New Brunswick offers something for every taste through a spicy menu of restaurants and entertainment venues.

The Civic Square Building epitomized public-private partnership during the city’s redevelopment in 1995, and was financed by nearly equal investments from Rutgers University and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, through the Port Authority’s mandate to promote economic and commercial redevelopment in the region.

The Bloustein School operates state-of-the-art computer laboratories used for both instruction and research. The school’s computing facilities include a main lab, a smaller “information gateway,” and dedicated studio classroom space. The two computer laboratories house 75 computer work stations for students to run software for geoprocessing, statistics, big data analysis, and graphic design.

The computer laboratory is used for graduate class instruction, workshops sponsored by the various centers affiliated with the school, and for professional continuing education. Research projects carried out in the laboratory include student projects, doctoral research analysis, and applied GIS grants and contracts.

The school has also invested over $350,000 in renovations which added an additional 25 workstations and created five “smart classrooms.” Smart classrooms and seminar/conference rooms at the school all feature wireless internet connections and ceiling-mounted projectors with PC, audio and video hook-ups.

Learn more about our facilities