While the majority of college-bound students want to spread their wings after graduating from high school, about 25 percent start their higher education at their local community college. New Jersey is home to 19 community colleges, including Raritan Valley, Middlesex County and Mercer County in Central New Jersey. Their tuition hovers around $4,500 a year for students who take 15 credits each semester. (There are no room and board fees, as housing is not provided.) For the 2,000 students each year who become NJ Stars, graduating in the top 15 percent of their class and meeting certain requirements, community college is actually free of charge.
Students looking to enter the workforce, without committing four years to their higher education, often pursue an associate’s degree or certificate in one of 1,700 programs. The majority of these programs lead to degrees in health care, advanced manufacturing, information technology, hospitality and tourism, transportation and logistics, and the building trades.
Other students utilize their community college as a cost-effective springboard to a four-year college or university. Some of the most popular transfer schools for community college graduates are Rutgers, Kean, Montclair State and New Jersey Institute of Technology, according to Thomas Peterson, Director of Marketing Communications at Mercer County College (MCC). But students have limitless options, and Peterson reported that several students had moved on to Columbia University’s School of General Studies. Peterson stated that some of the most popular majors at MCC are those in STEM, business, liberal arts, nursing and dental hygiene.
For certain programs, community college students are able to stay on campus to pursue their bachelor’s degree and sometimes even their master’s degree. The degrees are offered by four-year college partners and the courses are taught by the four-year college faculty, but it all takes place on the community college campus.
All high school graduates are eligible to attend community college, although placement tests are required to test out of remedial (non-credit) courses and place into courses for college credit. One way to avoid taking placement tests (at both community colleges and four year institutions) is to earn acceptable SAT scores prior to enrolling in college.
Susan Alaimo is the founder and director of SAT Smart in Hillsborough that has been offering PSAT, SAT, and ACT preparation courses, as well as private tutoring by Ivy League educated instructors, for more than 25 years. Visit www.SATsmart.com or call 908-369-5362.