Student Projects

Under the direction of faculty and research staff, students at the Bloustein School analyze real-world issues for real clients and develop real solutions. From planning studios to policy practicums to applied field experiences, students use a range of analytic, design, or research techniques to gain practical experience. They consider socioeconomic, demographic, environmental, political, and other conditions as well as stakeholder engagement as they research and assess projects, and are encouraged to use “best practices” in order to develop solutions that are equitable and efficient

Graduate Urban Planning Studios and Independent Studies

Studio: Newark’s EWR Transit-Oriented Community

View StoryMap There have been six previous Bloustein School studios that addressed the proposed 2023 PATH station addition to the EWR airport in Newark, NJ. In February 2017, the Port Authority of NY and NJ approved a $1.7 billion PATH extension to the Newark Liberty...

Placement of New Jersey Harm Reduction Centers

View StoryMap 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...

Penn Express: Mending the Gaps in Pennsylvania’s Bus Network

Independent study by Alexander Carroll Davis View report Over the last few decades, certain corridors in Pennsylvania’s intercity bus network have suffered dramatic cuts to service, cutting off Pennsylvanians from access to jobs and amenities in other towns. This...

Rising Tides – Tackling Housing & Resilience in New Jersey’s Meadowlands

View StoryMap The New Jersey Meadowlands District is an ecologically sensitive and economically valuable location in North Jersey, located opposite the Hudson River from New York City. With increasing demands for affordable housing in the area, as well as...

Reimagining Circulation in Somerset County, NJ

View StoryMap During the Somerset County, NJ Circulation Plan Update process, the County recognized the need to reevaluate how it provides public transit services. A meeting of the County’s Senior Management Team held in the Spring of 2023 to discuss this issue...

The Greenway, NJDEP

View StoryMap In September 2022 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) acquired approximately nine miles of an abandoned Norfolk Southern rail line that passes through eight municipalities in Essex and Hudson counties. NJDEP envisions converting...

Meadowlands Resilience Planning

View Report This report includes an evaluation of existing resilience planning in the New Jersey Hackensack Meadowlands District and the larger Meadowlands region with recommendations on possible next steps for promoting science-informed, and equitable climate...

Jersey City Mobility Hub Feasibility Study

With the city's existing transportation conditions in mind and a goal of providing last-mile connections and facilitating otherwise difficult crosstown travel, this graduate planning studio class aims to support the City of Jersey City Department of Transportation's...

Jersey City Heights Prospectus

Instructor: Barbara Faga The studio team was asked by the Central Avenue Special Improvement District (SID) to help advance the redevelopment of the project site on Block 2901. The Central Avenue SID wanted to see what potential exists for development of the lot. The...

Planning for Global Population Ageing

Report for Economic Analysis and Policy Division, United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs Instructor: Hal Salzman The world is greying. There are more older adults aged 65 and above today than children under the age of five. One in five adults will...

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Graduate Public Policy Practicums

Analyzing Short-Term Involuntary Commitment Policy in New Jersey

Larissa Garcia, Maia Hill, Stephen Keffer, Awn Rizvi, Raisa Rubin-Stankiewicz, Vee Yeo Read Report At the request of New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP), Rutgers graduate student researchers from the School produced a report to analyze P.L. 2023, c.139 which doubles...

New Jersey’s Career and Technical Education System: A Comparative Analysis Across States

Bauyrzhan Amanov, Belen Conde, Yanzhen Guan, Jessica Parineet, Cecilia Salazar Read Report New Jersey’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) system delivers valuable career-focused education and work-based learning to over 45,000 full-time secondary students. CTE...

Assessing the Effectiveness of the Educational Opportunity Fund Program

Grace Maruska, Carly Mihovich, Chelsie Riche, Ahmad Salman Zafar, and Fralinda Zazay Read Report The Educational Opportunity Fund Program (EOF) is a postsecondary program in New Jersey that provides both state-funded financial assistance as well as state-funding...

Proposed Evaluation of NJ Driver’s License Expansion

Camryn Mathews, Cristina Toppin, Anna Heckler, Qudry Adeyanju, and Madison Menkevich Read Report New Jersey Bill A4743, passed in 2019 and implemented in 2021, expanded access to standard driver’s licenses by creating two categories of driver's licenses and...

Diversity in Development – Observations and Recommendations for Aiding Developers of Color Across the U.S.

Amanda Hinton, Zeke Weston, Serwaa Akoto, Linda Flores, Nashia Basit Read Report To support Monarch Housing Associates’s Diversity in Development project, the Rutgers Master of Public Policy student research team produced several deliverables that sought to better...

Sharing is Caring, But Does It Save Money? An Analysis of Interlocal Shared Services as a Cost-Reduction Mechanism for New Jersey Municipalities

Abigail Brown, Amanda Bruce, Noah Callahan, Jessika Sherman, and Ian Vlahović Read Report This research practicum examines the relationship between municipal size, cost, and shared services. New Jersey faces a problem surrounding high property tax rates and the...

Determining the Barriers to Entry and Completion for Returning College Students in New Jersey

Kermina Hanna, Sabrina Rodríguez-Vicenty, Henry Fessant-Eaton, Jana Schwarz, Naomi Hogan, Ian Allen Read Report In 2019, the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) in New Jersey (NJ) published the New Jersey State Plan for Higher Education, outlining a...

Improving Outcomes for Students Experiencing Homelessness in New Jersey’s Region III

Saquiba Aziz, Garin Bulger, Tracy P. Glova, Will Harrison, Shaun Moran, Maggie-Leigh O’Neill Read Report Homelessness persists in America in every state. On a single night in January 2020, 580,466 people were identified as experiencing homelessness, which is...

Analysis of Nationwide Uncompensated & Other Related Care Models

Nathaly Andrade, Tristan Gibson, Han Le, Kevin Petrozzo, Jessica Rueb, andLaura Sandoval Read Report Promoting and ensuring access to medically necessary health care services is an important component of maintaining the health and wellbeing of a community. Equally...

Assessing Child Care Systems in New Jersey

Jessica Dufort, Jennifer Elliott, Eashwayne Haughton, Kevin Keys, Amanda Parker Read Report Equitable access to high quality, safe, and affordable child care is a necessity for healthy children and families. A family who secures quality dependable child care is able...

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Graduate Public Policy Applied Field Experience

Evaluating Transparency in Government Contracting Processes: The Case of Puerto Rico & CDBG-DR Funds

Sabrina Rodriguez - Sembrando Sentido View Presentation Watch Video

Space Matters: LISC & Early Childhood Facility Policy

Maggie-Leigh O’Neill - LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) View Presentation Watch Video

Affordable Housing Policy Advocacy at the Housing & Community Development Network of NJ

Shaun Moran - Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey (HCDNNJ) View Presentation Watch Video

Asbury Park School District: K-12 Education Policy

Naomi Hogan - Asbury Park Board of Education/Asbury Park School District View Presentation Watch Video

Social Justice Through Public Health

Laura Sandoval - Rutgers Center for Latino Arts & Culture View Presentation Watch Video

Mount Sinai Health System & Patient Surge During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Kevin Petrozzo - Mt. Sinai Hospital View Presentation

Rutgers Resource Center for Minority Aging Research – An Analysis of NIH Project Funding for Asian Health

Han Le - Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research (IFH) @ Rutgers University View Presentation Watch Video

Building Healthier, More Equitable Communities

Tristan Gibson - The Reinvestment Fund, Inc. View Presentation Watch Video

Building a Stronger, Fairer New Jersey Through Public Policy

Jessica Rueb - State of New Jersey Office of the Governor View Presentation

Social Development & Bureaucracy in Pakistan

Saquiba Aziz - IRD Global – Pakistan Deworming Initiative View Presentation Watch Video

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Graduate Public Informatics Student Projects

Data Dashboard: New Jersey Points of Interest during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Student projects include advanced data visualizations with R, Python, Tableau and other tools. Here, using anonymized cell phone location data, visits to businesses, parks and other public spaces were recorded and visualized.

Data Dashboard: NYC Citibike during the COVID-19 pandemic

This NYC Citibike interactive dashboard, an independent student research project in informatics, presents Citibike data to study how movement patterns changed during the pandemic.

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