A nearly century-old higher education institution in Hudson County facing financial challenges will pursue a merger with Kean University, state officials announced Thursday.
New Jersey City University’s Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to accept a merger proposal from Kean University in Union. It is a step that authorizes further discussions between the two public universities, but does not finalize an agreement, leaders of both schools said.
Kean University enrolls approximately 17,000 students while New Jersey City University has 5,500 students, officials said previously.
New Jersey City University would be renamed Kean Jersey City under the agreement, Kean President Lamont O. Repollet said in a letter to the campus community.
New Jersey City University officials did not discuss the school’s proposed new name in their communications to the campus.
The move to hammer out a merger comes as New Jersey City University has been debating its future amid years of serious financial problems.
“Over the next several weeks, we will negotiate a letter of intent with NJCU that begins a thoughtful and hopefully successful process of bringing the long-serving institution into the Kean University system as Kean Jersey City,” wrote Repollet, the state’s former education commissioner.
New Jersey’s secretary of higher education, Brian Bridges, had given New Jersey City University until the end of March to identify a potential university partner.
New Jersey City University has been grappling for years with financial challenges and questions about oversight. The school was assigned a monitor by the state in 2023.
The university’s leaders also discussed a possible merger with Montclair State University.
“NJCU is important to Jersey City and the State of New Jersey. We appreciate the opportunity to be considered as their partner, and wish them the very best,” said Andrew Mees, a spokesperson for Montclair State University.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Bridges issued a joint statement following the vote by New Jersey City University’s board to move ahead with a Kean merger.
“The Murphy Administration is encouraged by the forward-moving progress at NJCU,” Murphy and Bridges said.
“The State Monitor, NJCU Administration, and Board of Trustees have been collaborating diligently toward a future that sustains a strong public four-year option in Jersey City and Hudson County,” Murphy and Bridges said.
“Maintaining access to high-quality post-secondary education for students and the community, who have long benefitted from NJCU’s local presence, forms the basis of our shared commitment to the institution’s future,” Murphy and Bridges said.
New Jersey City University’s interim president, Andrés Acebo, said in a letter that “this next phase is more than an administrative step — it is the deliberate construction of a bridge to our second century."
“By aligning our strengths with those of Kean University, we are setting the stage for a collaborative journey that will expand our academic horizons and deepen our community impact,” Acebo wrote.
New Jersey City University was founded in 1927, became a college in 1935 and was granted university status in 1998.
“Over the past two years, our campus has experienced a significant transformation. We have reinvested in our facilities, stabilized our operations, and broadened our enrollment pipeline,” Acebo wrote.
If the merger is finalized, the Jersey City campus would join Kean University’s other campuses, including its campus in China.
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.