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JERSEY CITY, N.J. | For the last year,  (NJCU)’s leadership has worked tirelessly to recommit to its mission and refocus its efforts around student success and support services. The outcomes from the efforts are already being realized in real time. NJCU has announced significant year-to-date pre-census growth in both graduate and undergraduate new student enrollment for Spring 2024, as of January 26, 2024.

NJCU’s Enrollment Management team has reported that new graduate enrollment has increased 27.31% for Spring 2024, compared to the same period in Spring 2023. Additionally, new undergraduate enrollment also saw impressive gains, up 26.45% during the same period of Spring 2024 compared to Spring 2023 while undergraduate transfer new enrollment rose 34.38%. 

NJCU Interim President Andrés Acebo celebrated the news, stating: “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. 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. In the coming days we will unveil our shared governance-produced refreshed mission and vision along with our new academic master plan that enshrines a culture of continuous improvement, student success, community engagement, and mission-focused financial stewardship and sustainability. We are setting a new standard of expectations and affirming that to be of service to our community we must be engaged with our community."  

"I am profoundly proud of our dedicated administrators, faculty, staff, and students that have poured so much of themselves to the revitalization of our mission and the reimagining of public higher education. We have a lot more work to do but we have intentionally anchored ourselves to a community and a mission that make our efforts worth the challenges."

“We are very optimistic about what these enrollment increases represent as we continue to reimagine what a comprehensive public institution can deliver to the community it serves. The strategic decision our administration made early in our recovery efforts linking enrollment management to academic affairs for the first time is furthering our mission-driven charge, and these are the early results of those efforts.”

NJCU will 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.

The notable percentage increases in both undergraduate and graduate 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.

Interim Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Donna Breault acknowledged the encouraging news, saying:  “The enrollment success we see is a testament to the amazing teamwork of our Enrollment Management team and its leaders as well as the strong partnership between enrollment management and faculty. We are focused on our mission. 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.” 

José Balda [B.A. `00; M.A. `06], NJCU’s Assistant Vice President for University Admissions added: “This semester’s increase in new student enrollment is a direct result of commitment to educational access.  We are creating a culture of positivity and shifting our focus to making meaningful connections between students and faculty.  It takes a village and the university community is coming together to be an institution where students desire to be.  I want to express my sincerest gratitude to our incredible admissions team whose dedication and hard work have been instrumental in our achievements, and our partners in both the faculty and marketing department for their collaboration.”

�鶹��ý NJCU: 
�鶹��ý is a comprehensive public regional institution of higher learning located in Jersey City, N.J., dedicated to the development of our students, our city, our communities, and our state. We are a game-changing force for our students and have been recognized as one of the top colleges in the nation improving their upward economic mobility. In fact, NJCU has been ranked No. 1 in �鶹��ý and Top 10 in the nation in the CollegeNET Social Mobility Index for 2023. Whether enrolled in one of our undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral programs at our three locations, NJCU students have access to an affordable, diverse environment, and an exceptionally supportive faculty. This prepares them to go on to become the next generation of workers and leaders who improve their communities and the State of �鶹��ý.

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Contact: 
Ira Thor, Associate Vice President for University Communications | ithor@njcu.edu | 201-200-3301