HCCC students who meet the CONNECT criteria and become part of the program – including Early College students in local high schools – will be granted joint admission to HCCC and Rutgers University-Newark. All application fees will be waived for students in the program. If applicable, CONNECT students will be required to complete a Free Application to Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and additional applications for scholarships, grants, and other financial assistance offered by RU-N. The HCCC and RU-N CONNECT students benefit from personalized transfer support, one-on-one advisement, and maximum transfer benefits.
“The CONNECT program is transformational,” Dr. Reber said. “It removes barriers and the duplication of required courses, and it provides seamless and expedited pathways to baccalaureate degrees and better paying, more secure careers. We are very proud of our long and productive partnership with Rutgers University-Newark, and look forward to continuing to develop new programs that help improve the lives of our community.”
“This partnership with Hudson County Community College affirms our shared belief that talent is universal and opportunity must be deliberate, creating inclusive, well-supported pathways to the baccalaureate. Through the CONNECT program, HCCC students arrive at Rutgers-Newark poised to thrive, proving that when institutions work together, transfer success becomes a promise kept,” said Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson.
More information about the HCCC-RU-N CONNECT program may be found at https://www.hccc.edu/student-success/career-transfer-pathways/transfer/partnerships/rutgers-university-newark/index.html.
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Pictured from left: Dr. Tonya Smith-Jackson, Chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark and Dr. Christopher Reber, President of Hudson County Community College.
About Hudson County Community College
Hudson County Community College serves more than 24,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs.
HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education.
The College has received dozens of national awards throughout the years. HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of the 2026 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) “Awards of Excellence” and earned 2026 Advancing Institutional Equity and Belonging, Faculty Innovation, and Faculty of the Year Awards, in addition to Dale P. Parnell Faculty Recognition. HCCC also earned AACC 2024 CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards of Excellence. In 2023, HCCC received the Outstanding Member-Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
For the sixth consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of only a few community colleges in the United States to be named a “2026 Most Promising Place to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and the “Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Great College to Work For®” and named to the 2024 and 2023 “Great Colleges Honor Roll of Distinction.”
HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award. HCCC further earned the 2026 Bellwether “Best in Showcase Award.”
The College’s exemplary work in advancing student success has been recognized with “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC also earned the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2025, 2024 and 2023 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.
The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) named the College the inaugural recipient of the 2025 ACCT national “Impact and Success Award.”
About Rutgers University-Newark
Rutgers University-Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey’s State University. It is a remarkably diverse urban, public research university that is not just in Newark but of Newark – an anchor institution of our home city. We think of anchor institutions as placed-based organizations that persist in their communities over generations, serving as both social glue and economic engines.
