Sweeney Attends NJASCU Board Meeting to Discuss His Vision of Higher Education

Trenton – Today, Senate President Steve Sweeney attended and spoke at the New Jersey Association of State Colleges & Universities (NJASCU) board meeting where he spoke about the priority of college affordability for higher education in New Jersey.

“New Jersey ranks among the most expensive states in the country for higher education in country, and one of the main reasons for this is because we don’t have the money to invest in our schools,” said Senator Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland). “I don’t just want to make it less expensive, I want to invest more money into higher education. I want to make it more desirable for in-state and out-of-state students. I want to make sure we address institutional issues that help improve the success of students already in our schools, I want to do a host of things that will improve our colleges and universities, but we simply don’t have the money in the budget to do any of it.

“The only way we can invest in higher education, is if we can fix the underlying structural problems in our budget like our pension and health care costs, like pursuing shared services and K-12 regionalization. If we can make bold, structural reform, higher education is one of the first things that will receive extensive investment.”

“We are happy to see the Senate President has a clear vision for how he wants higher education to improve in New Jersey,” said Harvey Kesselman, President of Stockton University & Presidents’ Chair of the NJASCU Board. “Higher education is essential to the economic viability and growth of New Jersey.”

The NJASCU is an organization made up of eight state colleges and universities to advance and support higher education in New Jersey. The schools include: Rowan University, Stockton University, The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Thomas Edison State University, William Paterson University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, and New Jersey City University.