With its plan to expand educational efforts in downtown Providence, Roger Williams University is doing more than energizing its offerings. It will help boost the capital city as well.
The school’s goal of doubling its physical footprint is designed to improve its current programs while helping to launch new ones, with both sets benefiting from locating in the state’s urban core.
So much of the need in today’s higher education marketplace is for more experiential learning and job preparation. RWU’s law students will certainly benefit from being closer to the state’s courts than in the more-isolated environment at the school’s Bristol campus. Its Masters of Public Administration and a planned MBA curriculum will benefit from locating near the state’s government and business center (note that the University of Rhode Island has moved its MBA program into Providence already).
The addition of students and faculty will help fill empty space, yes (among the spaces being considered is the former 38 Studios LLC headquarters on Empire Street). More importantly, they will drive up the activity downtown, always a good thing. •