Students of Mercer County Community College will benefit with more streamlined access to four-year degrees following that school’s recent articulation agreement with The College of New Jersey.

MCCC President Deborah Preston and TCNJ President Kathryn Foster participated in a celebratory signing event Feb. 15 at TCNJ’s Trenton Hall that was attended by higher education faculty and staff, foundation board members, trustees and community members. Under the agreement, beginning in the fall of 2023, MCCC associate degree graduates in good academic standing who have maintained required GPA standards and satisfactorily completed the application for admission will automatically gain entrance to TCNJ.

“The articulation agreement that we sign today provides the opportunity to transform the lives of Mercer County residents,” Foster said.

“This agreement is not about making either institution look good or making our vice presidents look good, this agreement is about finding solutions that work for our students,” added Preston.

Both schools have worked together previously. According to the latest announcement, those efforts have allowed 220 MCCC students to enroll as full-time students at TCNJ. Overall, data referenced from that school show 2 out of 3 MCCC applicants are admitted to TCNJ.

The current move to expand that collaboration is the result of conversations that began over the summer between MCCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Robert Schreyer and TCNJ Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jeffrey Osborn, according to the announcement.

“Dr. Osborn and I, our academic leaders and enrollment services team had a brainstorming session of outstanding ideas at the West Windsor campus last summer, and coming out on the other side of that is this agreement,” Schreyer remarked, adding that “[t]he deans and faculty really embraced this and went through great detail to make it happen.”

One of those people was MCCC Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs James Whitney III, who underscored the importance of the timeline the agreement affords learners.

“A significant aspect of this agreement is MCCC’s 796 courses that will now transfer into real courses, not electives,” Whitney said. “This accomplishment is among the first of its kind at Mercer County Community College and will have a significant impact on student success.”

And the partners are still looking ahead.

According to TCNJ Vice President of Enrollment Lisa Angeloni, current discussions would give MCCC students space on campus.

“To further our institutions’ commitment to student success and to make the transition from associate degree to bachelor’s degree even more streamlined for MCCC students, we are now in discussions about housing MCCC students at TCNJ,” she said. “I believe this would contribute significantly to student success and allow for the full college experience.”

TCNJ is located in Lawrenceville; MCCC is based in West Windsor.

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