In a state where community college tuitions are among the nation’s highest, Brookdale Community College in Lincroft is at the top of the heap, according to a story in today’s Star-Ledger.
Brookdale will charge $98 a credit starting next month. Bergen Community College is the next-highest, at $93.70. The lowest-cost community college in New Jersey is Burlington County College, at $69 per credit.
The story focuses on tuition increases, with 18 of the state’s 19 community colleges boosting charges for the coming school year. According to the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, the average increase this year is $3.99 per credit hour. Brookdale’s rate is up $1.25 per credit from last semester, according to an announcement posted last month on the college’s website.
The sole exception to the trend is Salem Community College, where tuition remains unchanged.
From the Ledger:
When the Garden State’s county college system was founded in the 1960s, the schools were designed so students, the state and the individual counties would each pay a third of the cost of running the schools.
Over the years, the state and many of the county governments have failed to keep up their end of the deal, leaving students to pick up the slack. This year, the state and the counties will each pay 25 percent of running the county colleges, while student tuition will cover the remaining 50 percent, according to the state Council of County Colleges.
