Public-Private Partnerships: A Case Study of Rowan Boulevard

• In Event: Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Collaboration and Communication Development in Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the benefits and risks in public-private partnerships among public institutions of higher education, their local municipalities, and developers that work together to construct mutually beneficial facilities. The decline in state appropriations for public colleges and universities increases the importance of identifying new ways to finance campus facilities. Rowan University, in southwestern New Jersey, has partnered with its local town and a private developer to construct Rowan Boulevard, a one-third-of-a-mile corridor connecting the campus with the downtown area, anchored by a student housing complex at one end, a Barnes & Noble in the middle, and a 129-room hotel at the other end. The project’s success provides lessons for cash-strapped public institutions.

Author

• Michael W. Klein, NJ Association of State Colleges and Universities