{"id":99331,"date":"2026-01-13T22:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/99331\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T22:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:27:18","slug":"murphy-signs-legislation-merging-njcu-into-kean-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/99331\/","title":{"rendered":"Murphy signs legislation merging NJCU into Kean University"},"content":{"rendered":"

The plan to merge New Jersey City University into Kean University<\/a> took a big step forward Monday.<\/p>\n

Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation transferring all of New Jersey City University\u2019s academic programs, facilities and assets to Kean University while allotting $25 million in support of the transition, among other procedural steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a pivotal moment for students across New Jersey,\u201d said Kean University President Lamont Repollet.<\/p>\n

Officials have set July 1 as a target date for completing the merger, which remains subject to review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education.<\/p>\n

All New Jersey City University students would become students of Kean University. New Jersey City University\u2019s campus in Jersey City would serve as a metropolitan campus for Kean University known as Kean Jersey City.<\/p>\n

The governing boards at both institutions approved the merger last year and it would be among the largest-ever in New Jersey. <\/p>\n

Kean University enrolls approximately 19,000 students, including students on its China satellite campus. New Jersey City University has about 5,500 students.<\/p>\n

The planned merger is designed to help New Jersey City University stay open. The 99-year-old institution has grappled with financial problems for years.<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University President Andr\u00e9s Acebo said the merger would strengthen its role as \u201ca vital pathway to public higher education in Hudson County and Jersey City, rooted in a deep commitment to access, opportunity, and community.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University was assigned a monitor by the state in 2023 and directed to identify a potential university partner<\/a>. School officials explored a possible merger with Montclair State University<\/a> before announcing plans last March to proceed with Kean.<\/p>\n

Moody\u2019s<\/a>, one of the nation\u2019s \u201cbig three\u201d credit agencies, cited the proposed merger and other factors in upgrading New Jersey City University\u2019s financial outlook from \u201cstable\u201d to \u201cpositive\u201d<\/a> last spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students and our community will have access to expanded academic offerings, enhanced resources and support services, and new community-centered opportunities, all while staying rooted in the Jersey City community that we are proud and privileged to serve,\u201d Acebo said Monday of the planned merger.<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University awarded 1,544 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees at its 2025 commencement ceremony<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The plan to merge New Jersey City University into Kean University took a big step forward Monday. Gov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13216,9,11,10,45683,1491,4945,3249],"class_list":["post-99331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-generic","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nj-com","tag-real-estate","tag-stock","tag-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}