The following text was excerpted from an Editorial published by the Westfield Leader.
Original Article Credit:
- Publisher: Westfield Leader | UCNJ County Hawk
- Publication Date: 7/7/2022
- Full Article: View Original Article
What’s in a Name? Two-Year Colleges, Trade Schools Should Be Stigma Free
UCNJ County College changed its name to UCNJ with hopes that in rebranding itself it will draw more students in and help to fight the stigma that two-year schools are somehow “less than.” But two-year schools, trade schools and UCNJ, in particular, should never be viewed as anything less than fantastic.
According to data collected by College Board, community colleges cost about one-third as much as traditional four-year schools.
For example, local students who attend UCNJ will pay about $5,281 per year – and that’s without financial aid. At Rutgers, in-state tuition (before housing) runs about $12,536 for the same number of credits. Private and out-of-state tuitions only climb higher from there. A year at Seton Hall ( again without housing) will run students about $45,290
When did it become the norm to ask kids who are not even old enough to buy a beer in which to drown their sorrow, to sign off on the debt equivalent of a mortgage for a five-bedroom home?
Graduates of UCNJ – many of whom have gone on to succeed at an impressive list of Ivy League schools, among them Princeton, MIT and Columbia – have often spoken about the benefits of starting with a two-year program. The powers that be who opted for the name change are, unfortunately, absolutely correct. Despite the obvious advantages that a two-year program can offer, there is still a tremendous stigma attached to the “county college” moniker.
Westfield Leader
For more information regarding UCNJ’s Name Change, see below page: