NEWARK, NJ — A $10 million donation – the largest in Rutgers-Newark history – will be used to create "agents of positive change" in the city," school administrators announced Wednesday.

Prudential Financial has committed $10 million to the Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC) at Rutgers-Newark, which will fund the launch of the "Prudential Scholars Program" for the city's residents. The gift will create cohorts of Newark residents in the HLLC known as "Prudential Scholars" and provide them with scholarships to cover tuition and fees, as well as room and board, during their full-time study at Rutgers–Newark.

Two-thirds of Prudential Scholars will come directly from high school, with the remaining one-third coming from two-year colleges such as Essex County College. The scholarship recipients will have access to resources to help them build their entrepreneurial skills and the social networks to empower them to become agents of positive change in the city, Rutgers administrators said.

According to Rutgers-Newark, since 2013, the university's enrollment of city residents has grown by 87 percent. In total, half of 220 HLLC scholars live in Newark, and 13.5 percent of Rutgers-Newark undergraduates live in the Brick City. The first cohort of Prudential Scholars is expected to enroll in fall 2020, following an initial year of awareness building and recruitment for the program. They will live in the HLLC building now being completed on Washington Street between New and Linden Streets, Rutgers administrators said.

Developed as a public-private partnership with Newark-based developer RBH Group and designed by Perkins Eastman, the HLLC will open in September 2019 as an $81 million "state-of-the-art facility" created to promote cross-cultural, intergenerational living, and facilitate the HLLC's community-focused curriculum.

The building will include 26,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, Rutgers administrators said.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the Prudential Scholars Program is a "significant step forward" in creating more opportunity for the people of the city. "This gift represents a powerful investment by Prudential in Newark and in Newarkers," Baraka said. "It does exactly what we want to see more of in Newark: investing in the talent that is already here, providing affordable access to a college degree, and positioning more Newarkers to move into the kinds of jobs that are going to allow us to grow from within."