Rutgers: Office of Undergraduate Education - Residential Colleges & Learning Communities

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Rutgers' Residential Colleges and Learning Communities are self-selected groups of students and faculty, often from diverse backgrounds, drawn together both within and beyond the classroom through shared goals and common intellectual interests. These common interests might include study of such wide-ranging topics as French culture, human rights, women's leadership development, New Jersey's coastline, medicine, television production, and law. Residential Colleges and Learning Communities are both residential and curricular, allowing students to take courses that explore the common interests of their chosen residential learning community. Students in these communities enjoy some smaller classes, field trips related to their field of study, and social events that bring faculty, students, and alumni together to share ideas.

Special Interest Housing allows students with specific academic or professional interests to choose a common residence, but does not necessarily have a curricular component.

One additional option for new undergraduates who share a common interest is to forge further connections through First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs). These short courses taught by high-achieving juniors and seniors let students explore a subject, get to know Rutgers people working in that field, and discover Rutgers resources that can nurture their interests.

Choosing to participate in a Learning Community or to live in Special Interest Housing enhances your undergraduate experience by helping you to learn more about Rutgers and its resources, make friends more easily, and fine-tune the skills that will make you a successful student at Rutgers.

Douglass Residential College & Special Interest Living-Learning Communities for Women on the Douglass Campus

Global Village: living-learning community exploring languages and cultures
Bunting-Cobb Math, Science, and Engineering Residence Hall
Douglass Honors Housing
Sophia House: for women who are non-traditional students
Project SUPER: summer program for science, technology, engineering & math majors

University College Community for non-traditional students

Living-Learning Communities on Livingston Campus

Discovery Houses: exploring Business, Health and Medicine, Law and Leadership, Psychology. Students choose their area of interest and enjoy multiple core courses, special field trips with classmates and advisors, first-year interest group seminar (FIG) taught by a peer instructor, in-house academic support such as tutoring and study groups, and social events with faculty members to discuss ideas from class and career options.

Special Interest Housing on Busch Campus

Barr Hall: First Year Engineering Residence Hall
Busch Honors Housing
RU-TV Production

Special Interest Housing on College Avenue Campus

College Avenue Honors Housing
Demarest Hall: provides a variety of special interest housing for continuing, first-year, and transfer students, including language sections, arts sections, and academic disciplinary sections all based upon student initiative and interest.
French: a living-learning community, linked with a 1.5-credit course in French taught by a Graduate Fellow.
German: a living-learning community, linked with a half-credit course in German taught by a Graduate Fellow.
Latin Images: established in 1977, exploring Latin American culture.
Paul Robeson: a living-learning community established in 1976, exploring African American culture, and linked with an optional course on “Blacks in History” offered by the African Studies Department.

Special Interest Housing on G.H. Cook Campus

SEBS Honors Housing
Helyar House: first-year and continuing students enrolled at SEBS or Mason Gross

For more information on learning communities at Rutgers – NB go to http://rulc.rutgers.edu/index.shtml

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