New Jersey is doling out $30 million more in federal aid to help its colleges and universities recover from the coronavirus pandemic and prepare for the future.
The majority of the funding, $28.5 million, will go to nearly three dozen schools that applied to the state’s competitive grant program, “Opportunity Meets Innovation Challenge,” in which the money will be used to to institute “college-wide reforms” to protect against future challenges, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday during his latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton.
“These reforms and practices will be focused on those students who were most impacted by COVID and who would also be at greatest risk in a future emergency — students from historically underrepresented communities, students from low-income households, and working-age adults looking to back to school for new skills or to change careers,” Murphy said.
Those receiving the grants include:
- Montclair State University – $1,310,500
- New Jersey Institute of Technology – $1,401,884
- Rowan University – $1,499,993
- Rutgers, Camden – $875,520
- Rutgers, New Brunswick – $638,102
- Rutgers, Newark – $1,500,000
- Kean University – $832,566
- New Jersey City University – $498,344
- Ramapo College of NJ – $283,000
- Stockton University – $662,280
- The College of New Jersey – $1,000,000
- Thomas Edison State University – $483,496
- William Paterson University – $1,488,000
- Atlantic Cape Community College – $414,297
- Bergen Community College – $562,492
- Brookdale Community College – $374,460
- Camden County College – $814,193
- Essex County College – $1,000,000
- Hudson County Community College – $499,983
- Mercer County Community College – $1,000,000
- Middlesex College – $542,000
- Passaic County Community College – $1,000,000
- Raritan Valley Community College – $983,118
- Rowan College at Burlington County – $1,000,000
- Salem Community College – $398,100
- Union County College – $998,800
- Bloomfield College – $500,000
- Drew University – $500,000
- Fairleigh Dickinson University – $1,395,777
- Georgian Court University – $200,000
- Rider University – $500,000
- Saint Elizabeth University – $498,860
- Saint Peter’s University – $500,000
- Seton Hall University – $1,495,190
- Stevens Institute of Technology – $849,042
The state will also distribute more than $1 million in aid to 11 schools to help fight food insecurity and hunger among students.
“We know that there are numerous students across our state whose studies are made harder because they don’t have the means for stable and nutritious meals,” Murphy said.
“As we move forward and, eventually, fully out from under the cloud of the pandemic, we must ensure that every student has the tools they will need for success in the workforce of tomorrow,” the governor added.
The Hunger-Free grant award include:
- Montclair State University – $100,000
- Rowan University – $100,000
- Rutgers, New Brunswick – $99,647
- Rutgers, Newark – $100,000
- Kean University – $56,200
- Stockton University – $80,038
- The College of New Jersey – $99,082
- Camden County College – $100,000
- Mercer County Community College – $99,833
- Middlesex College – $100,000
- Ocean County College – $79,317
New Jersey, an early coronavirus hotspot and home to the most COVID-19 deaths per capita in the U.S., has seen its daily numbers drop to some of the lowest levels of the last 16 months. But newly confirmed cases have risen in recent days as officials continue to warn about the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. Officials say those who are unvaccinated are driving recent cases and remain the most in danger.
The Garden State on Monday reported another 227 confirmed cases and four additional deaths, while more than 5.11 million people who live, work, or study in the 9.2 million-resident state have been fully vaccinated.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at [email protected].
