The presidents of Hudson County Community College and New Jersey City University, Christopher Reber and Andrés Acebo, signed a historic agreement that will enable a seamless transfer experience from HCCC to NJCU as HCCC students take the next step in their academic journeys and pursue their bachelor’s degrees at NJCU.
The agreement facilitates the seamless transfer of credits from HCCC to NJCU, creating inclusive, visible and barrier-free transfer pathways and ensuring that students do not accumulate excess credits at either institution.
The HCCC|NJCU CONNECT program proactively eliminates the transfer hurdle and provides those students with additional resources, including a counselor who will work with them to ensure they have the support they need to be successful while transitioning from HCCC to NJCU.
This game-changing agreement is the result of several years of intensive work, and the program was initially developed during the Aspen Institute–American Association of State Colleges and Universities Transfer Student Success and Equity Intensive, an externally-funded national project designed to advance best practices for improved and more equitable student success. HCCC|NJCU CONNECT is modeled after the highly successful Northern Virginia Community College – George Mason University ADVANCE program.
The two Jersey City-based institutions of public higher education also will share additional resources, including but not limited to housing and child care services at NJCU, and HCCC’s holistic support services and programs. The schools will also establish data and information-sharing procedures among their staff in order to share best practices and promote student success.
Students will be dually enrolled and have access to all programs and facilities at both institutions throughout their programs of study.
While the two colleges are geographically close, they have many programmatic commonalities, including a shared focus on student success.
“We both serve large communities of traditionally underrepresented students. Many students at both institutions are the first in their families to go to college. Many of these students are navigating monumental barriers to pursue their education. When they succeed, it is life-changing for the students, their children, their families and their communities, and the outcomes ripple throughout generations,” Reber said.
Acebo echoed this sentiment, stating: “This historic announcement for both institutions builds upon NJCU’s nearly centurylong commitment to providing a socioeconomically diverse population with access to an excellent education as a catalyst to social mobility. This is a pillar of our commitment to being one of the public anchor institutions in Hudson County and surrounding communities. NJCU recently announced the most significant overhaul of its general education program in decades. Our intentional work alongside our partners at Hudson County Community College will only further the distinction that NJCU is now the most transfer-friendly public university in the state of New Jersey. The partnership between NJCU and HCCC provides tools to change the trajectory for students who enroll in the community college, make the transition to the four-year institution and engage fully in the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree.”
There are now 15 academic pathways encompassing a variety of fields and disciplines available to HCCC students who want to begin a course of study and continue on to NJCU after completing their associate degree.
