It’s not going to be an easy sell, but New Jersey voters need to endorse a plan to expand the state’s public and private college systems.
NJ.com reported today that the schools submitted a $6 billion wish list to renovate existing facilities and add important new programs in health, technology and environmental sciences. The state’s four-year schools need to expand their opportunities for in-state students. College presidents
cite a study that shows the state’s four-year colleges provide only 19 seats for every 100 high school graduates, forcing families to spend more on out-of-state schools or abandon the idea of higher college education for their children.
The list, which has yet to be discussed by the state Legislature as part of its discussion of a potential state bond referendum, could be the kind of jobs program with long-term benefits the state needs, creating construction jobs now and research and teaching slots later.
“There is no better investment the state can make than in higher education,” said Richard McCormick, the departing president of Rutgers University, who is leading the lobbying effort for the financing. “In the short term, it will put a whole of lot of people to work, while increasing statewide capacity for higher education and meeting a strategic objective by investing in science, medicine and engineering.”
Hank Kalet 