New Jersey City University, in another example of its comeback from a dire financial situation, announced that its enrollment for the spring semester is up more than 27% from the year before.
Its transfer enrollment also is up significantly, more than 34% year-over-year.
The notable percentage increases in both undergraduate and graduate students represent the first gains in new enrollment since the midst of the pandemic and have been accomplished even while the university was in a period of transition during its recent rightsizing efforts during the 2022-23 academic year.
NJCU interim President Andrés Acebo obviously was thrilled by the news.
“This is the direct result of a concerted and collaborative effort to strengthen an institutional mission of meeting a population where they are, of breaking down institutional and systemic barriers of access and a deliberate focus on the sustainability of a mission for an extraordinary community of overwhelmingly working-class, first-generation students,” he said. “Every partnership and every decision we have made together over the last year has had this as its aim. We have accomplished this while offering a narrower and more mission-focused academic portfolio.”
NJCU is expected to soon unveil a new academic master plan that not only addresses curriculum, but retention, its first strategic enrollment plan and unveiling a mission and vision refresh — much of which has already been rolled out in NJCU’s work to meet the community where it is.
Interim Provost Donna Breault said the news is a testament to the teamwork of the school’s enrollment management team — as well as the strong partnership between enrollment management and faculty.
“We are focused on our mission,” she said. “We are strategic in our pursuits. We are all working toward a shared vision, and we continue to lift one another up in our efforts. The energy and commitment among our stakeholders are contagious, and we have felt it with incredible turnout during our new student orientations and open houses, and during our in-person recruiting events. Students and their families are excited about NJCU again, and it continues to motivate our entire team.”
