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A small private college in New Jersey on the brink of closing gets some help from a neighboring public university.
Bloomfield College, the state’s only four-year, predominantly Black institution, had seen expenses increase over the years while enrollment fell off. The 153-year-old school has 1,300 students with the majority being Black and Latino. Bloomfield College President Dr. Marcheta Evans and others appealed for help.
As a result, Montclair State University offered to assist.
“We weren’t going to sit here and watch a sister institution with a shared purpose struggle through it and ultimately fade away because they’re doing what we are ultimately trying to do ourselves,” said Montclair State University President Dr. Jonathan Koppell.
The two schools are working on the details of this collaboration.
“The goal is to create this window for us to come up with something bigger, a partnership,” said Bloomfield College President Dr. Marcheta Evans. “Getting a degree transforms not only that student’s life, but the family system as well. So working through whatever the new model is going to be transformative, not only for students and Bloomfield, but the state of New Jersey as well.”