GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Stockton University is facing flat student enrollment and increasing operating costs during tight budgetary times, President Joseph Bertolino said Monday in his annual State of the University address.
In a new strategic plan, Stockton is prioritizing increased student recruitment and retention by introducing more scholarship opportunities and fostering community awareness of and pride in the school’s many campuses. He said that with competition for new students being strong, retaining students already at Stockton is vital.
“Let’s make this commitment: not only to attract students, but to keep them and to graduate them,” Bertolino said about the school’s mission to keep students engaged.
The president spoke in the Campus Center Theater on the Galloway campus to an in-person and online audience. In the annual address, he spoke about the university’s academic and fiscal results in the past year and plans to improve for the future.
During a discussion of enrollment management at Stockton, Bertolino spoke of the strengths evident in enrollment data for the past year but also of a couple of disappointments.
Enrollment of first-time students increased by 2.3% since last year. However, the percentage of transfer student enrollments was down by 7.2% and graduate enrollments were down by 6.3%. The total new student enrollment went down 1.8%, and the total enrollment of 8,626 students is holding flat from last year. Student tuition and fees, including housing payments, comprise more than half of the operating budget.
Bertolino said Stockton’s priority is to stabilize enrollment and position the university for long-term growth.
Stockton has expanded pathways for students to transfer to it through new agreements with Atlantic Cape, Ocean and Brookdale community colleges to make it easier to complete their college education and get a degree. The university has also struck an agreement for students of Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania to transfer to Stockton, Bertolino said.
Stockton University intends to invest in workforce and economic development as part of a new strategic plan it announced this week.
Stockton continues to boost community engagement through alumni engagement efforts and awareness campaigns with billboards and other advertising, Bertolino said.
Regarding university finances, Bertolino noted that Stockton started the year with a $15 million operating shortfall and a $5 million capital fund deficit. He said through cross-campus collaboration and “sacrifice,” Stockton made up those shortfalls. However, many cost reductions amounted to one-time fixes that can’t be repeated, and Stockton still faces a $20 million structural deficit.
Bertolino said the prospect of more state aid is not promising. Due to rising expenses, New Jersey is facing a projected multibillion-dollar state budget shortfall. A tight state budget would also affect Stockton, which receives 30% of its budget from state funding.
Bertolino said he and Stockton leadership have held numerous meetings with state officials to advocate for higher education in the fiscal 2026 state budget. He referred to Stockton as an anchor community in Atlantic City, which means that the institution’s actions will have a larger effect on the Atlantic County area.
“In fact, for every $1 million invested in regional higher education, roughly $16 million in economic activity is generated — most of it within a 60-mile radius of the institution,” Bertolino said about lobbying for investments into universities in New Jersey.
Not all the economic news was gloomy. Because of its belt-tightening, the university ended the year with a cash balance of $22.9 million. The university also saw a 9.7% increase in investment funds, from $118.8 million to $130.3 million.
Stockton set a goal of $4 million in donations and giving to strengthen its reach; that goal was surpassed with $5.2 million raised. The total included $1.6 million raised through a new strategic planned-giving initiative.
Stockton hosted the Foundation Scholarship Benefit Gala on its campus here, with nearly 500 alumni, donors, faculty, staff and partners of Stockton raising over $330,000 for student scholarships.
More than two-thirds of New Jersey voters are unhappy with the current state of the economy, according to a poll released Friday.
The university secured 56 new grant awards over the past year, totaling $9.7 million, Bertolino said.
He concluded the address by acknowledging the university’s progress in the past year and setting a goal to raise $8 million to $10 million annually to expand support for scholarships and student innovation. He emphasized the community effort that the Stockton team will undertake to bring their strategic plan to fruition.
“Let’s carry that spirit forward; stay engaged, stay thoughtful, keep showing up for one another,” Bertolino said.
Anthony Bolton is a Stockton University student and writer for the college’s newspaper, The Argo. The Press may occasionally feature Argo stories under a student journalism project funded by the William Gormley and Lee Levine foundations.
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