New Report Addresses Access Obstacles and Growing Inequities in Higher Education in the Garden State

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice today released Reaching Higher: Expanding Access to College Education in New Jersey. 

Released during a turbulent national moment where Washington is targeting diversity programs and attacking educational institutions, the new report reveals a New Jersey higher education system in crisis.

Growing tuition and fees coupled with stifling student debt have created barriers that continually hinder access for low-income, first-generation and students of color to quality higher education.

“Higher education is at a critical moment in this country, and New Jersey is no exception,” said Harbani Ahuja, Senior Counsel in the Economic Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the primary author of the report. “After suffering through decades of disinvestment, higher education in the Garden State is experiencing a growing crisis that has shifted costs onto students—a burden that especially hurts Black and Brown students. We owe it to future generations to act boldly today and make higher education more accessible, affordable and diverse.”

The report shows that New Jersey has fallen below the national average in funding per student in higher education. State funding for higher education has dropped nearly 22 percent since 1999, with community college funding ranking near the bottom nationally. This has pushed the financial burdens of college onto students and families, with New Jersey ranking fourth in the nation for highest in-state public college costs.

As a result, New Jersey college graduates spend more, leaving with even more debt—nearly $40,000, the sixth highest level of debt nationally. This especially harms Black families who are disproportionately burdened by student loans due in part to the massive racial wealth gap.

“All of New Jersey’s students deserve the ability to go to college and benefit from the doors that open through higher education, and that is simply not the case right now,” said Laura Sullivan, Director of the Economic Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “New Jersey needs to decide today whether it will be swept away in a national attack on higher education, or whether it will forge its own path toward a prosperous and inclusive higher education system for all its residents.”

The report offers a comprehensive roadmap to building a more just and equitable higher education system in New Jersey—one that serves all students, not just those with access to generational wealth, institutional knowledge and high-resource schools.

The Institute’s transformative policy proposals include:

Investing in New Jersey Students

• Increase State Funding for Higher Education
• Enhance Funding and Reach of New Jersey's Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) Program
• Create Clear Pathways and Increase Support for Community College Opportunity Grant (CCOG) and Garden State Guarantee (GSG) Programs

Strengthen Support and Awareness for Students

• Increase FAFSA Support Services
• Expand Programs that Facilitate the Transition to College
• Increase Marketing and Awareness about New Jersey’s College Promise Program

Improve Equity and Inclusivity in Admissions

• Initiate Automatic Enrollment in Community College
• End Legacy and Donor Preferences

Smooth Pathways for Students to Increase Graduation Rates

• Expand Opportunities for Dual Enrollment
• Increase Access to AP/IB Courses
• Seamless Transfer of Credits

Smooth Pathways for Students to Increase Graduation Rates

• Expand Opportunities for Dual Enrollment
• Increase Access to AP/IB Courses
• Seamless Transfer of Credits

To read the full report, click here.