News List
New Video: “The Limitless League” Wellness Grant
“The Limitless League” was a 90-day challenge aimed at enhancing the physical and mental well-being of the Bloustein School’s faculty and staff and led by Aakanksha Deoli, Stephanie Kose-Crozier, and Anita Franzione. The Bloustein School’s challenge runs through May, 2025.
Murphy adviser also works at engineering firm that gets NJ contracts
Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Policy Research, said balancing dual roles in the private and public sectors “can be problematic, and the officials involved have to make good choices” by following the law and ethics policies.
Research Day 2025 Recap: Winners and Videos
The Bloustein School’s 4th Annual Research Day took place on Friday, April 12th. Watch the keynote address by Dr. Joel Cantor and Lightning Talks by various Bloustein professors and researchers.
Despite protest, E-ZPass can be run by a company with Singapore ties, the N.J. Turnpike Authority says
Commenting on the alleged Singapore-China alliance, Marc Pfeiffer, associate director of the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University, said: “It’s important to remember that Singapore is a separate country from China, and is not an adversary of the United States.
Prof. Smart Researches Youth Driver Licensing Determinants
This study explores the factors influencing driver’s license acquisition among young individuals and examines its broader implications for mobility, safety, and sustainability.
Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Workforce
The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Insights from Marc Pfeiffer – SBN Newsmakers
A new report from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University called The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction, senior policy fellow Marc Pfeiffer discusses these shifts and what they mean for the future of news.
Dr. Williams Studies Telemedicine for Behavioral Health
This study supports the use telemental health to increase access for all patients, including those from under-represented, lower socioeconomic status backgrounds.
NJSDS Launches External Access Program
The New Jersey Statewide Data System (NJSDS) is excited to announce the launch of the NJSDS External Access program, which provides approved researchers the opportunity to access longitudinal administrative data from four New Jersey state agencies.
The Continuing Ups & Downs of the Trade Tariff War
“We saw the negative effects during the COVID pandemic when supply chains melted. We were overly dependent on China and other nations for critical components. So, having independence on certain sectors of the economy, with internal supply chains, would be desirable. However, the critical question is: “Will tariffs actually do that?” Hughes said.
Rutgers MHA now ranked #28 by U.S. News and World Report
The Rutgers Master of Health Administration program continues its upward trend by jumping to #28 in the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings of Best Graduate Health Care Management Programs.
Industry leaders and colleges work together to prepare students for success
“We’re preparing people to become successful professionals in their area of interest and that hasn’t changed that much,” said Carl Van Horn, center director and distinguished professor. “That’s been our mission.”
7th Annual FHA Health Administration Competition
The 7th Annual FHA Case Competition brought together some of the brightest emerging minds in healthcare to tackle a real-world challenge in the industry.
Graduate Studio on New Jersey Harm Reduction Centers
The purpose of this studio is to study the provision and implementation of HRC’s (Harm Reduction Centers) in New Jersey by directive of the public law signed into effect in 2021. In addition to existing HRC’s in 7 different locations, the NJDOH (Department of Health) is specifically interested in the implementation of vending machines and mobile units.
NJ saw double the layoffs in first quarter vs last year, even before tariff fears
“We may see the same thing in 2025” because of the impact of Trump’s tariffs, he said. “It almost seems like we’re in another panic.”
Gov. Murphy Lectures in Roseman’s Class
Governor Phil Murphy joined former Chief Speechwriter Derek Roseman’s Political Communications for Public Policy class at the Bloustein School on April 2nd.
New Study Projects Climate-Driven Flooding for Thousands of New Jersey Homes
Lucas Marxen, co-director of the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center at Rutgers, said the new Climate Central tool is easy for the public to navigate, provides clear information on areas at risk and offers citizens solutions to flooding, a feature that he said is not often found in such tools.
Using Data in Your Local Government for Beginners
Like roads and utilities, the collection and analysis of data have become vital tools that enable municipalities to tailor services to their residents. But what does this mean for you and your community? This guide will help you understand how to use information to serve your community better.
Molloy Discusses Criteria for Healthiest Cities
“Look for excellent healthcare providers: hospitals AND primary care. Also, cities with extensive recreational opportunities that do not require payment (e.g., parks, walkways, bike paths, etc.).”
Banking giant Barclays cutting 78 jobs in Whippany after earlier layoffs
James Hughes, an economist at Rutgers University, told NorthJersey.com that white-collar jobs in banking and finance have become saturated after a two-year hiring spree that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
McGlynn & Payne Explore the Relational Reprojection Platform
In this paper, we discuss the cartographic genealogy and prospective uses of the Relational Reprojection Platform (RRP), an interactive tool that we built to create custom azimuthal reprojections of spatial datasets with non-linear distance transformations.
Clint Andrews–The Critical Role of University Research
This week on EJB Talks, Dean Stuart Shapiro speaks with Bloustein School alumna and Bloustein Advisory Board member, Leah Furey Bruder, MCRP ’06 about her journey into urban planning and her experiences working in municipal and redevelopment planning. Leah explains how her background in international studies shifted to local planning after working on community development in Camden, NJ. She discusses her work in Cherry Hill, her time as an in-house municipal planner in Evesham Township, and her decision to start her own firm to focus on impactful projects.
Payne Investigates City Digital Twins Concepts
As a result, we conclude by expanding Rose’s arguments into the factory, the originary vision of the digital twin as a quality control system in production lines, and returning to a technological vision of the city presented by digital twins that is not only deeply masculinist, but symptomatic of the crisis of capitalism.
Population is Growing, but College Enrollment is Stalling
“We’re facing the cliff, because those born in ’08 … they’re just entering their high school graduation years,” said James Hughes, Dean Emeritus
The unexpected way this N.J. hospital network is helping patients
“We know that the more often you go to the doctor, the more often you’re able to take care of things as they arise in a timely fashion, the better off your health is,” said Michael Smart, a professor at Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “Transit is a real lifesaver, a literal lifesaver.”
Pay-to-play
“What it means is that contracts are being awarded not on the basis of who is the most qualified, but on the basis potentially of who has given the largest sums of money to those decision makers,” Rubin said.
Nashia Basit (MPP/MCRP ’24) on Women’s Leadership
This week, alumna and current Governor’s Fellow Nashia Basit (MPP/MCRP ’24) discussed women’s leadership in state government and cultivating spaces for women to be successful with Allison Chris Myers, Esq., CEO of the New Jersey Civil Service Commission.
Heldrich Report: Generative AI’s Impact
A new report from the Heldrich Center offers an overview of the impact of GenAI on work in the United States, and how GenAI may affect workers and employers in the life sciences and technology sectors of the economy and in New Jersey.
Checking In on NJ’s Income and Housing Cost Rankings
While housing costs in New Jersey continue to be among the highest in the nation, the state growth rate of 4.8% for median owner costs for housing with a mortgage was among the slowest in the country (43rd) and well below the national rate of 7.2%.
New $1.7B NJ Turnpike contract to operate E-ZPass program is awash in controversy
Companies winning contracts with state agencies are required to provide disclosure forms showing ownership structures for those with a 10% stake or higher, said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow and faculty researcher at Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Policy Research.
‘Extremely concerning’: Recession fears could upend New Jersey’s next state budget
Pfeiffer also pointed out this is something that every state has to deal with and should be “very cautious in the assumptions they make about new revenues and cautious with the assumptions they make on what they do with federally funded programs.”
New Jersey has contributed more than $800M in funding to Atlantic City for budgets since 2016
“In New Jersey, we have a single way of raising money, which is property taxes,” Pfeiffer said of municipal budgets. “Atlantic City has always been an exception to that because you have the hotels and then the casinos. You’ve always had a policy of state engagement to support Atlantic City’s municipal budget in particular.”
Stephanie Gomez-Vanegas (PPP minor ’25) in Rutgers Today
The 23-year-old, who is bolstering her major in social work with a minor in planning and public policy through the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, said her goal is to eventually pursue a career in macro social work so she can focus on large-scale issues and making systemic changes. But before getting into the field, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work at Rutgers.
Stamato Commentary: In the Crosshairs: The Nation’s Civil Service
Stamato Commentary: A functioning democracy requires knowledge
Leah Furey Bruder–Community Centered Urban Planning
This week on EJB Talks, Dean Stuart Shapiro speaks with Bloustein School alumna and Bloustein Advisory Board member, Leah Furey Bruder, MCRP ’06 about her journey into urban planning and her experiences working in municipal and redevelopment planning. Leah explains how her background in international studies shifted to local planning after working on community development in Camden, NJ. She discusses her work in Cherry Hill, her time as an in-house municipal planner in Evesham Township, and her decision to start her own firm to focus on impactful projects.
Announcing the Passing of Professor Lyna Wiggins
The Bloustein School is saddened to announce the passing of Lyna Wiggins, Associate Professor Emerita, on November 10, 2024. Lyna retired from teaching and research in May 2020 and was able to spend time working on her quilting projects and riding her horse, Marilyn Monroe, whom she loved dearly.
In NJ, Trump economic ally pushes idea of raising SALT deduction to $20K or higher
New Jersey’s ballot design that gave party bosses big influence is officially dead
A study by Rutgers public policy professor Julia Sass Rubin, looked at ballots where voters either voted twice or didn’t vote for certain offices, likely because of the way the line creates confusing ballots.
Heldrich Report: Educational and Employment Outcomes
A new report from the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Educational and Employment Outcomes for the New Jersey High School Classes of 2014 and 2015, utilizes the New Jersey Statewide Data System to analyze the trajectories of New Jersey high school graduates.
Jagannathan Receives Chancellor Award for Global Impact
Bloustein School Professor Radha Jagannathan was recently named the recipient of the Rutgers Chancellor Award for Global Impact.
The award honors a faculty member whose research, teaching, or service has catalyzed global partnerships or generated global impacts and exceptional public engagement.
Faculty Contribute to Wealth Disparity Task Force Report
Last week, in commemoration of Black History Month, Gov. Phil Murphy and Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way announced the release of the state’s Wealth Disparity Task Force report, “New Jersey – Building a State of Opportunity: A Report of the Wealth Disparity Task Force to Close Opportunity Gaps and Repair Structural Disparities.”
Announcing the Passing of Arlene Pashman, CUPR Senior Editor
Arlene Pashman, a long-time senior editor for the Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR), passed away on March 1, 2025 after a brief illness. Arlene retired from the Bloustein School in May 2011.
Do Party Chairmen Still Hold Power in New Jersey Now That the Party Line Is Gone?
Political analyst Julia Sass Rubin, a professor at Rutgers University who has studied the county line’s effects, argues that while the change is a step toward fairness, party chairmen retain significant sway. “The line’s removal weakens their ability to directly control ballot placement, but these leaders still command loyalty, fundraising networks, and grassroots operations,” Rubin said. “They’ve lost a tool, not their toolbox.”
Watson: Lessons from a City Planner
Dr. Pipas discussed the importance of well-being and drivers of burnout for all health professionals. By applying evidence-based well-being strategies to advance personal health, she sought to help professionals create their own personal health improvement plan (PHIP) to sustain well-being over a lifetime.
County conventions were all the rage in NJ. Now candidates are skipping out.
“The fact that so many people are choosing not to go through the process really highlights just how powerful the county line itself is in determining who wins the primary, putting aside all that other stuff,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers professor whose research was cited in overturning the line. “The candidates feel like they can afford to do this now. They don’t have to drop out if they’re not the favorite daughter or son, and they don’t have to go through the process of getting endorsed.”
Parsippany office building, part of a ‘dying breed,’ sells for $10.2 million
James Hughes, an economist at Rutgers University, told NorthJersey.com that white-collar jobs in banking and finance have become saturated after a two-year hiring spree that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Crowley discusses the benefits of divorce after the age of 50 for women in Woman’s World Magazine in March 2025
“When I spoke to the women, they pinpointed three areas where they thought their divorces benefited them,” she reveals. “The first was independence—freedom to make their own decisions—while the next biggest positive was their ability to get away from their ex’s toxic behaviors.” The third key benefit is something we can all take inspiration from: feeling happier with life overall.
NJSPL: Affordable Housing Database for Older Adults in NJ
A collaboration between the New Jersey State Policy Lab and the Rutgers Hub for Aging Collaboration addressed this gap by compiling a census of all housing apartments available for older adults with low income. The census is available to the public to view here and includes a searchable database and an interactive map of New Jersey, representing existing and potential assisted living program sites throughout the state.
Widening Highways Doesn’t Fix Traffic. Here’s What Can
Major widening projects “lock us into decades of infrastructure that doesn’t build the future we want—or doesn’t build the future I want,” Ralph says. Often, she says, that money would be better spent investing in reliable and expansive train networks, better mass transit or safe walking and biking paths.
Barchi Explores Adolescent Behaviors in Botswana
While logistical barriers might be easily addressed, perceived barriers, including negative staff attitudes and behaviors towards adolescents, require concerted and collaborative efforts by educators, health professionals, and policy makers to change.
JPMorgan to lay off 121 employees in Jersey City office
James Hughes, an economist at Rutgers University, told NorthJersey.com that white-collar jobs in banking and finance have become saturated after a two-year hiring spree that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
The benefit of retaining home-health aides
“The Heldrich Center for Workforce Development is excited to partner with the New Jersey Department of Human Services on this program to expand the state’s pipeline of certified home-health aides and provide training for those who are already working in this critically important field,” said Carl Van Horn, director of the center and a professor at Rutgers University.
Will NJ taxpayers get help from Trump, Congress on expiring $10K SALT tax deduction?
“If it gets lifted to $20,000, that’s really going to be inclusive to a lot more places,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, who studies local government in New Jersey
Heldrich Report: Examining the Benefits of Education in NJ
Examining the Benefits of Education in New Jersey examines the costs and benefits of pursuing and attaining postsecondary education from public higher education institutions in New Jersey. The report’s findings demonstrate that higher education helps individuals and families achieve upward social and economic mobility and results in higher tax revenues for state and federal governments.
Awaiting DOGE’s latest reveal: Who is running it?
This feels to me very much like they are playing rope-a-dope with the courts a little bit,” he said. “They are saying, ‘oh, well, no, you can’t bring that person in to testify because they’re not the head of DOGE.’”
A Statistician’s Life, Celebrating Black History Month
“One of the ways I choose to express my gratitude for the impactful mentorship I have received throughout my academic and professional journey is by paying it forward,” Williams said. “Mentoring is a deeply meaningful activity to me; I would even call it a passion.”
The Future of Local News in New Jersey? It’s Adapting.
One of the biggest unresolved issues in New Jersey is where governments will publish legal notices now that newspapers are ending their print editions. For over a century, state and local governments have been required to publish public notices – such as hearings, zoning changes and budget reports – in print newspapers to ensure transparency and provide a verifiable public record. But this system is breaking down.
Lindenfeld Assesses Substance Use Services Ads in NY
We coded websites of county public health, mental health, emergency, and social service departments to identify whether any government agency provided information about ten evidence-based SUD services. We calculated the number and percentage of counties advertising each service, overall and by county size (medium/large and small).
A Valentine’s Inspired Interview with the Poppers
Dr. Popper retired from teaching at the Bloustein School in January, 2020. Deborah and Frank Popper have been married for 58 years and both hold visiting faculty positions in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University.
Murphy set some key economic goals for NJ in 2018. How has he done?
The state and private investors are pouring $4 billion into the New Jersey Health + Life Science Exchange, or HELIX, in New Brunswick. “That really will be a statewide hub, not a local hub,” Hughes said. “Hopefully it will evolve into a national hub. It’s bringing together a lot of the players.”
VTC-POET: Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk
The Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center needs your help! Out of 570+ storytellers from 58 countries, VTC-POET, and its project partners are finalists in the 2024 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition, Storytelling for a Better World, for The Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk project!
New Briefs: Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative
The Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative has released two new research briefs by Heldrich Center researchers.
Bhuyan Receives Leadership Excellence Award
Linda McMahon invested in dozens of bonds funding public school projects across the US
Municipal bonds are also considered a safe investment — it’s unlikely local governments would fail to pay investors back — and they can help balance out the risks in an overall portfolio, Winecoff said.
Stamato Commentary: Trump fiddles while L.A. burns
Heldrich Survey: Inflation, Job Security Concern Workers
Deep concerns about inflation and the labor market are widespread throughout the country as Republicans take control of the White House and Congress — even amid low unemployment rates — according to a national probability survey of 648 members of the U.S. labor force conducted from January 17 to 19, 2025 by the Heldrich Center.
Bhuyan and Samuel Explore Generative AI Use in Healthcare
This paper examines various clinical and non-clinical applications of Gen AI. In clinical settings, Gen AI supports the creation of customized treatment plans, generation of synthetic data, analysis of medical images, nursing workflow management, risk prediction, pandemic preparedness, and population health management.
Question: Where are all the New Jersey college students? Answer: ‘The enrollment cliff’
“We’re facing the cliff, because those born in ’08… they’re just entering their high school graduating years,” said James Hughes, Dean Emeritus of Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
Lawyers Take Home Over $3 Million from School Buildings Fight
Marc Pfeiffer, the associate director of the Bloustein School at Rutgers, put it this way in a new report about the future of journalism in New Jersey: “Despite some contemporary criticisms of (editorial opinion),” he wrote, “it has, over many decades, helped generate public discourse and solve complex and controversial issues facing our society.”
NJSPL Report: Higher Education in New Jersey – A Policy Review
New Jersey’s state higher education plan, “Where Opportunity Meets Innovation – A Student-Centered Vision for New Jersey Higher Education” (the Plan), was introduced in 2019. It envisions an ecosystem where every resident can attain high-quality credentials regardless of their circumstances.
Healthcare, Policy, and the Opioid Crisis: Bridging Gaps in Access
This week on EJB Talks Assistant Professor Zoe Lindenfeld talks to Dean Stuart Shapiro about her research on substance use disorders, particularly the opioid crisis, and its ties to healthcare access and policy. She explains how her interest in the field was sparked by the opioid epidemic’s emergence as a public health crisis.
Lights out: A final word from N.J.’s only editorial board
Marc Pfeiffer, the associate director of the Bloustein School at Rutgers, put it this way in a new report about the future of journalism in New Jersey: “Despite some contemporary criticisms of (editorial opinion),” he wrote, “it has, over many decades, helped generate public discourse and solve complex and controversial issues facing our society.”
Public Policy and Surveillance Tech
Municipalities should have a sense of the technology’s costs (financial, societal, and reputational) versus its benefits. Financial costs include staff management time and storage fees; they will rise with the volume of data stored. Societal and reputational costs may come into play when deciding what physical locations warrant surveillance and if the technology is obvious or invisible to those affected by it.
Lindenfeld & Mauri Find Uptick for MOUD at FQHCs
The percentage of patients with an SUD who received MOUD each year, increased over time from 10.01% in 2017 to 24.75% in 2023.
Community health centers show large uptick in prescribing meds for opioid addiction
Lindenfeld and Mauri explained that efforts aimed at improving access to medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder at federally qualified health centers should particularly target facilities that serve a large proportion of nonwhite patients and patients experiencing homelessness.
NJSPL: Ensuring Accurate & Equitable Vaccination Info
The study evaluated the accuracy, readability, and understandability of vaccination information from ChatGPT and the CDC in both English and Spanish. This is critical as previous evaluations have mostly focused on English, overlooking the needs of non-English speakers in the U.S. We compared responses to common vaccination-related questions using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
2025 IHC Grant Program Funding Opportunities
The grant program seeks to advance practice, systems and environmental changes to enhance healthy community outcomes for people with disabilities who also may experience societal discrimination as a result of, but not limited to age, race, socioeconomic or immigration status, and/or sexual orientation.
Ralph et al. Review e-Scooter Pilot Projects
Well-run and well-received pilot projects can help overcome initial public opposition to new policies or projects. Planners should use four strategies to maximize the potential of their pilots.
Trump’s regs freeze trips up Biden’s green rules
“Regulatory freezes are standard practice for incoming administrations,” Stuart Shapiro, dean of the public policy school at Rutgers University, told POLITICO’s E&E News. “They want to pause any actions not completed by the previous administrations so they can decide whether they want to complete them.”
Navigating New Jersey’s Economic Outlook
In our first episode of EJB Talks for 2025, Stuart Shapiro and Will Irving discuss Will’s current role with the Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/ECON) as well as the latest economic forecast for New Jersey, which predicts a sharper economic slowdown compared to the national trend.
Dr. Quincy Reflects on Dr. King’s Impact in NJ
I stand with Dr. King’s dream and a testament to the greatness of the people of our state – our citizens who strive for the fruits of our interconnected Garden State.
N.J. nonprofits brace for potential federal funding cuts under Trump
“If I were leading a nonprofit that was dependent on those kinds of grants, I’d be very worried,” said Joel Cantor, director of the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy.
School Dropoff Is Everything That Sucks About Car Culture
Dr. Kelcie Ralph at Rutgers University found that even when controlling for income, wealth, residential location, family composition, and race, “young adults who were carless as children completed less education, worked for pay less often, experienced more unemployment, and earned less than their matched peers with consistent car access.”
Climate change risk hits NJ homeowners’ insurance
“There is a message that comes through, which is that insurers are leaving a lot of the riskier markets because they perceive it to be risky. There’s also a sort of a standard pattern of first they raise premiums and then eventually they exit that market,” Clinton Andrews,
A plan is moving forward in N.J. to let homeowners save tens of thousands of dollars on their mortgages
“It’s sort of a painless way of saving,” Hughes said. “Very few of us have the discipline to religiously put away a portion of our salary to build up equity.”
Nashia Basit (MPP/MCRP ’24) Named 2025 NLC-NJ Fellow
The Bloustein School’s Nashia Basit (MPP/MCRP ’24) was one of nine graduate students selected as a 2025 New Leaders Council New Jersey (NLC-NJ) fellow.
Salzman Presents on Why Legal Immigration Numbers Matter
The debate over high-skill guestworker supply is ongoing, with over 700,000 high-skill workers entering the U.S. annually through various programs, not just the H-1B visa. U.S. colleges, especially master’s programs, play a significant role in this supply chain, often targeting foreign students due to the financial benefits.
Andrews Explains How Climate Risks Impact Insurance in NJ
“There is a message that comes through, which is that insurers are leaving a lot of the riskier markets because they perceive it to be risky. There’s also a sort of a standard pattern of first they raise premiums and then eventually they exit that market,” Clinton Andrews,
Op-Ed: The future of New Jersey news is digital — and that’s OK
Earlier this month, I completed a report titled “The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction,” and it was recently released by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. In it, I discussed the current environment facing New Jersey journalism, and recommendations on how it can thrive. I also analyzed the current debate about advertising legal notices in newspapers.
The Future of NJ Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction
A new two-part study written by Marc H. Pfeiffer examines the evolving landscape of state and local journalism in New Jersey during a critical transition from print to digital news delivery and challenges those changes mean for the publication of “official notices.”
NJ watchdog chief owns house in Maryland, teaches in D.C., votes in Tinton Falls
By declaring the Maryland home as her primary residence, Williams Brewer might be in violation of the New Jersey First Act, Pfeiffer said. The law, enacted in 2011, requires public employees, including those at authorities, boards, bodies and commissions, to establish residency in New Jersey within one year of their hire date.
Report Release: R/ECON Forecast Winter 2025
R/ECON’s economic forecast for New Jersey as 2024 drew to a close once again shows a slowing trajectory, with annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2025 projected to slow more sharply than in the prior forecast.
NJSPL: Key Insights on NJ College Completion
In December 2024, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released a report on credential attainment among college students nationwide[1]. The six-year completion rate in New Jersey continued its upward trajectory, with the 2018 cohort achieving a completion rate of 61%, representing a 0.9 percentage point gain from the previous cohort.
Stamato Commentary: Jimmy Carter’s pursuit of peace
A new op-ed by Linda Stamato reflects on the legacy of Jimmy Carter, highlighting his pivotal role in the 1978 Camp David Accords which forged a historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel under challenging circumstances.
Data shows reduced public participation under virtual-only Lakewood Township meetings
“In person meetings have a value, they provide upfront interaction with the people they represent. It allows more direct participation and provides nuance that can’t be seen or observed or happen when you are on a webinar,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at the Bloustein Local Government Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. “In person requires a little more formality. It requires a better sense of decorum, which is representative of the official nature of what is going on.”
100 companies announced 13,300 layoffs in NJ in 2024. Here’s how to file for unemployment
“The Great Resignation has yielded to the Great Stay,” Hughes said in an interview. “It could definitely be shrinking … which suggests this is really a correction.”
Dr. Williams Explores State-Level Structural Racism and Suicide
This study co-authored by Dr. Shar Williams examined the association between state-level structural racism and past year rates of suicide ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White adolescents.
Rent going up again? You’re not alone. Hudson County’s market 2025
“It will take a good deal of time in order to see that new supply has an effect on affordability in markets,” said Eric Seymour of Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
New Jersey commuters face higher transportation costs in 2025
Rutgers University economist James Hughes, dean emeritus of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, said over the past two years, lower-income residents were saved from rate hikes because federal rescue funds allowed NJ Transit to operate without fare increases during the height of the pandemic.