It’s no secret that we’re living in challenging economic times; many throughout Union County and beyond find themselves unemployed or underemployed and aren’t sure where to turn next. For many, the solution may be to further their education, and Union County College is the logical choice. Since it first opened its doors in 1933, Union County College has helped over one million students reach their educational and career goals by providing high quality academic programs at affordable prices, with flexible schedules at three convenient campuses. Whether you’re looking for an Associate’s Degree that can lead to a Bachelor’s Degree at a four-year school, vocational training that can help your employment prospects or just a course or two to learn a new skill to make you more marketable, UCC can help you sUCCeed!

President Obama recently pointed out that "jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience" in the coming years and stressed the important role community colleges play in non-degree job training as well. UCC offers nearly 80 different associate degree and certificate programs, as well as a wide variety of non-degree programs through our Continuing Education division.

If you are currently unemployed, you may have recently received a letter from David Socolow, the NJ State Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, with information about financial aid that may be available to you while you are out of work. Pell Grants and other forms of financial aid can help qualified students by covering some or even all of the cost of tuition, fees and textbooks so that you can get the training you need to advance your career and help make your future and that of your family more secure. If you have received this letter from Commissioner Socolow, bring it into the Financial Aid Office at any UCC campus to get started (financial aid is not available for non-degree Continuing Education courses).

You can also learn more at the government’s opportunity.gov website.

Your next steps:

Apply to UCC – you can apply to UCC online by clicking here, or by visiting the Admissions Office on any campus.

Apply for Financial Aid – apply for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Be sure to include our school code, 002643, on your FAFSA. Be sure to check your financial aid status on e-services about a week after you apply to be sure that we have all of the documents that we need. If you are unemployed, you will also want to complete the Request for Special Consideration Form to allow the Financial Aid staff to take your unemployment status into account.

Placement Testing – click here for more information on placement testing to see if you need to complete this step. Placement tests are given at the Cranford campus only.

Meet with an Academic Counselor – Academic counselors can help you plan your pathway so that you know what you need to do in order to earn your degree, and they will make you aware of the resources that UCC offers to help you succeed. No appointment is necessary; just visit a Counseling Center on any UCC campus.

Register for classes – Registration for Spring 2010 classes is going on right now, so register early to get the best choice of available classes.  The Spring semester begins on January 21, with our Late Start classes beginning on February 4.