New Jersey City University and Essex County College signed the Essex|NJCU Express — a transfer program Memorandum of Understandings to enable a seamless transfer experience from ECC to NJCU. The two schools gathered at a signing ceremony on July 18, 2024 between NJCU Interim President Andrés Acebo and Essex President Augustine A. Boakye, Ph.D.
Effective Sept. 1, or a period of at least five years, Essex County College students in good academic standing who have earned an Associate of Arts or Science degree at Essex, will be granted joint admission into NJCU with junior academic status, in the same or similar academic program of study.
“The American Dream for many in our communities finds its foothold on campuses like Essex County College, and we are creating an expeditious process where students complete those pursuits on our campus at NJCU,” Interim President Andrés Acebo, said. “Both of our institutions serve some of the most diverse communities and socioeconomically diverse students in our state. Higher education stands on the precipice of opportunity on our respective campuses. Both of our institutions, throughout our histories, have been a vehicle and modality for social mobility and prosperity. Our students pursue and persist through systemic and societal challenges with radical resilience worthy of emulation. Our work manifests in real time when we come together to launch bold initiatives like Essex|NJCU Express to anchor purpose and mission around people. What we are doing here today through our joint admission matriculation partnership is anchoring ourselves around the people we are privileged to lift, champion and amplify through our dedicated and concerted efforts. Today, we honor where our student’s academic journeys begin and recommit to help shepherd them through its timely conclusion and the professional pursuits that follow.”
Essex and NJCU will adopt specific program-to-program articulation agreements for all 39 bachelor’s degrees and distinct degree and certification pathways offered under the joint admissions program as part of the seamless transfer experience.
The two schools will collaborate to identify program maps to facilitate the transfer of credits to limit excess credit accumulation, develop joint admission standards, academic advising and support programs and staff, and establish a timeline for the automatic transfer of credits.
Additionally, the schools will conduct regular data-driven evaluations of the program to assess its effectiveness and make adjustments when necessary. All application fees for transfer students into NJCU will be waived.
A critical element of the partnership will allow every credit earned at Essex to transfer to NJCU. In April 2023, NJCU announced the most significant overhaul of its general education curriculum in decades — reform which makes NJCU a statewide leader as the most transfer-friendly public university in the state. NJCU is the only four-year institution in New Jersey to do this.
The Essex|NJCU Express program builds off other successful agreements NJCU has engaged in, including the HCCC|NJCU Connect — known as the Hudson Connect Program — which was signed in December, 2023 and launched in January, 2024.
