Facts

Produce one-half of all the baccalaureates granted in NJ.
Over 90% of their students are New Jersey residents.
Enroll 102,000 students including about 88,000 undergraduates, most of them full-time, and about 14,000 graduate students.
Each year, receive applications from about 25,000 students for about 11,000 full time freshman class slots.
Rank number 3 among the 50 states in productivity.
State college students now pay in tuition and fees a very large share of costs of operating the colleges: 57%, while the state pays only 43%.

About the Current FY 2011 Budget

A 15% cut totals about $50 million for the nine state colleges and universities.
The nine state colleges now receive the same amount, in dollars, that they received from the state fifteen years ago -- when they had 25,000 fewer students.
This year's budget reflects the seventh cut to state college funding in the past ten years.
In FY 2011, the nine state colleges and universities will have to pay an extra $30 million to cover the cost of employee salary increases. The budget provides no help to pay for these state-mandated increases.

About New Jersey and Higher Education Opportunity

Spends more on K-12 than most of the other 50 states…among the top five in per-pupil and per-capita spending, yet ...
Spends less than most other states on higher education, on both a per-capita basis and per-$1,000 income basis, 34th and 44th respectively.
Increased enrollment of full-time equivalent students more than 47 other states during FY 2004-2009 despite a percentage change in state appropriations, for that time period that was third-worst in the nation.
Loses more college bound high school graduates than any other state (35,000) and has the highest net out-migration of degree/certificate seeking students of any state in the U.S. (net loss of 29,000 according to NCES 2006 study).
Higher education appropriations, as a percentage of the state budget, have shrunken to about one-half of what they were two decades ago.
Due to low priority placed on higher education, the state has failed to invest in state college facilities. There has been no regular appropriation for facilities as is the case in many states, and there has been no general obligation bond issue for higher education in 20 years.

Polls: How New Jersey citizens see things ...

82% say education they provide is excellent or good
72% say it is important for the state to increase the number of seats at state colleges and universities
45% say a bad economy and cuts in state funding are the cause for recent increases in tuition, 19% say state mandated costs and regulations are the cause (another 19% say new program and technology, and 18% say colleges' inability to cut spending)
By a 5:1 margin, likely voters believe there would be more political interference if the state had more control over the colleges
By a 4:1 margin, residents believe that nonpartisan boards are more likely than state government to be accountable for successful investment in higher education

Policy Information Source: Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates polls for ASCU (2005-2009)