Rowan University

Public · Moderately Selective · NJ

Photo: Purplybunny (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationNJ · Northeast

SettingSuburban

Undergrads15,841

Student:faculty17:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate50.1%

6-yr grad rate67.4%

Drop-out rate17.7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$17k

Out-of-state tuition$27k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity41.1%

Gender diversity49.5%

International2.7%

Identity—

Overview

Rowan University, in Glassboro in southern New Jersey, was a modest regional teachers' college for most of its history until a 1992 gift from industrialist Henry Rowan, at the time one of the largest ever made to a public university, was earmarked specifically to build a new College of Engineering. That single gift reset the university's trajectory, and Rowan has spent the decades since building outward from it into a comprehensive research university, adding programs, population, and buildings at a pace unusual for a public institution its age.

Academics

Engineering is still the clearest signature, taught through small, project-based clinic sequences from the first year rather than large lecture courses, a structure meant to get students designing and building early rather than waiting until upper-level coursework. Rowan is unusual for a university its size in running two full medical schools, one MD-granting and one DO-granting, giving pre-health students a genuine in-house pipeline rare outside major research universities. Business and communication, including a well-regarded radio, television, and film program, are also solid and growing.

Campus & student life

The Glassboro campus has visibly expanded over the past two decades, with new academic buildings, housing, and research space reflecting the university's growth-stage identity rather than a settled, historic one. It's within reach of Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore alike without being embedded in either, and the campus itself keeps a contained, walkable, suburban feel. Athletics compete at the Division III level, so sports culture takes a back seat to academics and campus organizations in student life.

Getting in

Rowan's applicant pool has grown more competitive as its facilities and reputation have expanded, particularly for engineering and the direct pipeline into its medical schools, both of which now draw students specifically for those programs rather than as a regional fallback option.

After graduation

Engineering graduates benefit from the clinic model's built-in project experience, and pre-health students who make it into Rowan's own medical schools have an unusually direct path from undergraduate study to MD or DO. The university's rapid growth means its alumni network is still young relative to older research universities, concentrated most heavily in New Jersey and the Philadelphia region.

Worth knowing

The two medical schools, one MD-granting and one DO-granting, are a genuinely distinctive feature for a public university of Rowan's size, and applicants interested in a defined undergraduate-to-medical-school track should know Rowan builds explicitly toward that. The Henry Rowan gift is treated as institutional origin story, and it's a useful shorthand for understanding why engineering carries the weight it does here.

rowan.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate77.7%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1110–1310 · ACT 23–29

Test policyoptional

Rec letters1

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying