Bloomfield College Receives Challenge Grant and Additional Appropriation from State of New Jersey
Bloomfield College was recently notified that the four-year, private with a public purpose institution is the recipient of two revenue streams from the state of New Jersey.
The first is a federally-funded grant through the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE). The Opportunity Meets Innovation Challenge Grant was designed to enable institutions to invest in students and increase college completion, particularly among populations most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic including historically underrepresented minorities, low-income students and working-age adults. The College applied for and will receive $500,000, the maximum amount allowable for an institution its size.
“This timely grant will enable us to expand our scope of student support services and provide students with custom portfolios of assistance to improve retention and graduation rates,” said Bloomfield College President Marcheta P. Evans, Ph.D.
The letter received by the College from Secretary of Higher Education Brian K. Bridges, Ph.D., said, in part, “Thank you for your leadership and commitment to New Jersey’s pandemic recovery, which must ensure students are well-positioned for success now and into the future. We look forward to partnering with you as we strive to meet the State’s goal of 65% of working-age New Jerseyans obtaining a high-quality credential by 2025.”
A total of 35 New Jersey institutions of higher learning will be receiving $28.5 million in federal dollars provided by the U.S. Department of Education through a second round of Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding.
The second revenue stream coming by way of Bloomfield College is a special appropriation request sponsored by Senator Sandra Cunningham, Senator Ronald Rice and Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin that was included in the state’s annual budget. The Residential Access Scholarship Program was designed to provide housing assistance and meal plans to low-income students. The College was awarded $492,100 to provide this impactful support to its students.
“Because Bloomfield College educates the highest percentage of Pell eligible students in the state, providing higher education access to some of the neediest students enrolled in New Jersey institutions, we are grateful for this additional funding to the College,” added Evans. “I am encouraged by the recognition that Bloomfield College students are in critical need of additional support to be able to pursue and complete their college degrees that afford them the opportunity for social and economic mobility—and not only for themselves and their families, but for the many generations that follow.”