Governor Murphy Reiterates Promise of Tuition-Free Community College

BY WILLIAM FEOLA

Gov. Phil Murphy campaigned with the promise of making community college tuition-free for all New Jerseyans and on Tuesday he echoed that same exact promise.

During a round table discussion at Rowan College at Burlington County in Mount Laurel, Murphy told a room full of college students and staff that he’s still committed to delivering that promise.

Unfortunately for many current and up-and-coming community college students, the panel discussion didn’t go as well as they would’ve hoped. Murphy was very limited when answering about his future plans of making community college completely tuition-free and details were extremely scant, leaving students worried that this deal may not get done as quickly as they had hoped, if at all.

“We’re still at the early stages of putting the building blocks of our budget together,” Murphy said during the discussion. “As I have said, I don’t think we will get this done tomorrow, but we have strong aspirations.”

The benefits of tuition-free community colleges are what the governor looks to take advantage of. Giving students additional options after high school, as well as a new diversity level, a stronger workforce and greater economic development due to more skilled workers and college graduates are things that New Jersey looks to benefit from. With these benefits at hand, many in the state are anxious to hear the details of Murphy’s $200 million proposal. 

“I can’t wait to see and hear the details of the proposal,” said Ashley Jones, 19, who is an economics major at Bergen Community College. “As a community college student and someone who knows a lot of people who can’t afford tuition, I want to see the governor’s plan because a lot of talent and skills are being wasted because tuition is so high.”

Murphy’s vagueness leaves many questioning future of state

Many are curious to see what the governor will include in this year’s budget, and with the vague responses given during the panel, that leaves the tuition-free community college promise with a big question mark for at least this upcoming year. With the several big promises Murphy made during his campaign, which include fully funding schools and the state’s ailing public worker pension fund, to raising the minimum wage and restoring funding to Planned Parenthood, these big promises will not only cost the state billions of dollars but they will be slowly implemented over time, making it almost impossible to judge when any of these promises will actually be fulfilled.

If and when New Jersey community colleges become tuition-free to all students, they would be following in the footsteps of states like Oregon, Minnesota, Louisiana, Arkansas and South Dakota. According to state statistics, New Jersey in the 2016-2017 academic year charged full-time students an average of $4700 in annual tuition and fees per semester, totaling out to about $123 dollars per credit. These numbers were calculated using in-district rates and they only grew higher when it came to the in-state and out-of-state rates. All of these bills and payments could all disappear during Murphy’s tenure as governor.

Of course, not every citizen of New Jersey is exactly on board with the tuition-free idea.

“As a taxpayer, I don’t particularly like the idea of tuition-free community colleges,” said Stew Cutler, a lifelong New Jersey resident. “The taxes and cost of living in New Jersey is already high enough. The last thing I want to do is to spend even more when it’s hard enough to make ends meet as it is.”

Despite drawing mixed reactions, one thing is clear: this proposal, if passed, will have a profound effect on the state of New Jersey. The governor may have reiterated his promises but until we see his budget and his plan for the future it’s tough to tell what will happen to community colleges and their students in the upcoming months.