Twenty months ago, in June of 2022, New Jersey City University (NJCU) declared a financial crisis.
Andrés Acebo
Its then-President Dr. Sue Henderson announced that she’d be stepping down. It was predicted that the public Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) would face a structural operating deficit of over $22 million, a forecast that officials worried would hurt enrollment and other aspects of the school. The school also asked the state to help with $10 million.
Now, things are looking much better for the Jersey City school. Financial rating corporation Moody’s changed its assessment from ‘negative’ to ‘stable.’ Spring graduate, new undergraduate, and undergraduate transfer new enrollment are up by over 25% compared to last year.
And the school is even “conservatively forecasting” a “break-even balanced budget for fiscal year 2024,” according to NJCU President Andrés Acebo.
“We're very proud that, given the fact that this was an institution that in five years was downgraded five times by rating agencies, an institution that just 20 months ago had declared fiscal exigency facing a $20+ million forecasted operating shortfall, our rating agencies has upgraded us to a stable outlook,” Acebo told Diverse.
The pathway to get to this point has had its fair share of hard choices. And the school also still has a way to go.
After the school declared financial emergency, it also adopted budgets and plans to realign the trajectory of the school, said Acebo, who previously served as NJCU’s executive vice president and university counsel.
