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Fact 1 |
New
Jersey state colleges
and universities rank
nationally #3 in
productivity for
baccalaureate/masters
institutions. |
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Fact 2 |
At
the campuses, 97% of
state college/university
students are New Jersey residents. During the past decade, minority enrollment, full-time enrollment, and residential enrollment, and retention and graduation rates have increased despite declining state support. |
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Fact 3 |
Major gifts and grants
to the state colleges
and universities have
increased significantly,
with some of the largest
in the institutions'
history received
recently. |
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Fact 4 |
In
FY 22011, states on average devoted 10.1% of its budget to higher education, whereas New Jersey devoted only
7.9%, according to a National Association of State Budget Officers analysis (Fall
2011). Eleven
states devote twice the
New Jersey share to
higher education. |
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Fact 5 |
With
declining state
investment, students'
share of educational
costs has risen to about
60%, from about 30%,
since FY 1990. |
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Fact 6 |
The share of family disposable income needed to pay for
tuition at New Jersey
state colleges and
universities has risen to
17%, from 12.6%, since FY
2002. |
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Fact 7 |
Underfunding of state-negotiated labor contracts since FY 2000 amounts to over $204 million absorbed by the colleges/universities, or passed on to students in the form of higher tuition and fees. |
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Fact 8 |
New Jersey is one of only 7 states hat has had no capital budget for higher education facilities in recent years. The first general obligation bond issue for higher education facilities since 1988 was passed in 2012. |
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Fact 9 |
Tuition is among the highest in the nation for like institutions because of the absence of capital funding and the state's failure to pay the full cost of labor contracts and other operating expenses. |
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Fact 10 |
New Jersey state colleges and universities have among the highest debt in the nation -- yet high bond ratings; and bond agencies find the debt to be well managed. Bond raters' biggest concern is state regulation that could turn back the clock on responsible enrollment and financial policy set by boards of trustees. |
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Fact 11 |
The public has confidence in state college trustee boards. In recent polls of voters, when given the choice among three options to provide accountability,
voters say they trust college presidents and nonpartisan trustee boards over New Jersey state government by a 4:1 margin. |
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Fact 12 |
New Jersey ranks 46th in the nation in four-year public college/university enrollment capacity (undergraduate seats) to serve its citizens, partially accounting for New Jersey ranking 1st nationally in net loss of college bound students (about 30,000 annually). |
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Fact 13 |
State colleges and universities overall have increased their six-year graduation rates by about one percentage point per year since the 1992 entering cohort; four-year graduation rates have increased even more rapidly in recent years. NJ state college/university averages consistently exceed the national mean by several points. |
