Rowan University projects more growth as it touts its multibillion-dollar economic impact on the state

Rowan University leaders Monday touted the school’s $2.9 billion annual economic impact on New Jersey as cited in a new report, and said more growth in enrollment and capital projects — including a “holistic wellness village” — is coming.

The state university for years has been on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s list for the fastest-growing institutions, most recently ranking fourth among public doctoral universities nationally. Despite a projected continued drop in high school graduates nationally and amid a market where some colleges are losing students and making program cuts, Rowan is envisioning a nearly 70% increase in enrollment by 2033.

Rowan currently educates about 22,800 students, nearly double the amount when president Ali A. Houshmand took over in 2012, and projects that enrollment will grow to 38,500.

» READ MORE: After 10 years, Rowan University president Ali A. Houshmand is more ambitious than ever

“At a time when everybody is talking about some institutions going under, I want you to know that Rowan University has every intention of not only lifting this university and getting it bigger but also helping every one of the counties in our region,” Houshmand said during a virtual news conference Monday.

The enrollment increase will come both on campus and online, he said.

The president said nine new buildings are either under construction or planned over the next decade. Those currently underway include a $75 million fossil park and museum, a $30 million expansion of the student center, the $125 million new school of veterinary medicine, $50 million for the adjoining Virtua Health College Research Center on the West Campus, and a $9 million building for Rowan Medicine Center-Cumberland in Vineland.

In addition, the university envisions a wellness village on 210 acres on the West Campus, near Inspira Health’s Mullica Hill campus. That would likely take a decade and cost $1 billion, the university has said.

“We right now are negotiating with a developer,” Houshmand said. “This village will have all sorts of housing, from age-restricted [those over 55] to young people, apartment houses, as well as therapeutic activities, physical therapy, spirituality therapy, music therapy, nutrition, exercise. ... We want to create a beautiful community ... that people can come in and enjoy and be next to a massive hospital and a great institution.”

» READ MORE: Rowan University gets $30 million naming gift for New Jersey’s first veterinary school

A university spokesperson said no other details on the village were available as it is in the “early discussion phase.” It would be a public/private partnership, similar to the model used for the development of the $426 million Rowan Boulevard, which connects the Glassboro campus with downtown. Houshmand said student internships and opportunities for faculty research would be incorporated.

Rowan also has added two medical schools during Houshmand’s tenure, one of them osteopathic, becoming only the second university in the nation to have both. And its veterinary school will be the first in New Jersey.

Also during the news conference, Lee Huang, of the Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions Inc., presented the findings of the economic impact study his firm conducted.

The amount of the university’s economic impact has nearly doubled in five years, and by 2033, that number is expected to grow to $4.9 billion, he said.

“We worked off growth projections provided by Rowan in terms of its aspirations for student enrollment growth, growth in its operating footprint, and the 10-year capital investment plans that it would have to implement in order to achieve those aspirations,” Huang said.

The study considers annual research and operating expenditures, construction, renovation and maintenance projects, spending by both students and visitors, and other factors, including how employees spend their wages in the local communities. It also calculates an “alumni wage premium,” noting that earning a college degree elevates wages and results in a greater income tax base.

The annual tax revenue generated by Rowan is $150 million, the study said.

Economic impact studies of universities are far from new. And as higher education institutions, particularly those that are public and receive tax dollars, find themselves under greater scrutiny, they offer a way to demonstrate greater worth outside of providing education.

This is Rowan’s third study. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education last year said its 10 universities contributed $4 billion to the state’s economy. Rutgers University in 2017 estimated $5.2 billion. The University of Delaware in 2022 cited a $3.2 billion contribution.

Pennsylvania State University in 2019 said it contributed $11.6 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy.

“It’s a very wise thing for any state to really look at the educational institutions as an economic engine,” Houshmand said, “because we are here to stay. We have been in existence for 100 years. We will be in existence for another 200 years.”