The Trenton Time published the following article on April 30, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Mercer County colleges and universities to receive $95 million from state for construction projects
By Jon Offredo/The Times of Trenton
on April 30, 2013 at 1:16 PMTRENTON — The state will provide Mercer County’s six institutions of higher education a combined $95.4 million from voter-approved state bond funds and other sources to help the colleges and universities kickstart campus construction projects.
The College of New Jersey, a public university in Ewing, will receive $57.5 million, the largest award in the county. The school had submitted six applications for funding, including $41 million that was approved to help pay for a planned $64 million engineering building.
The other awards are $16.6 million for Thomas Edison State College in Trenton; $9.7 million for Mercer County Community College, which as campuses in West Windsor and Trenton; $6.5 million for Princeton University; $4.6 million for Rider University in Lawrence; and $645,323 for Princeton Theological Seminary.
“Today, we begin a new era of opportunity for New Jersey’s colleges and universities,” Gov. Chris Christie said in a press release yesterday. “To keep more of our best students in the state and to make our colleges more attractive research partners for industries looking to bring good paying jobs and businesses here, we need modern facilities to remain competitive.”
The funds come in part from the $750 million Building Our Future Bond Act, which lets the state borrow millions for construction and renovations of academic buildings at colleges and universities. Voters approved the bond authorization last November.
In total, $1.3 billion was made available from the bond act and the reauthorization of four other higher education funding programs.
Princeton University was not eligible for funding from the higher education bond question in November because of its large endowment The $6 million it will receive will come from the Higher Education Capital Improvement Fund, one of the four reauthorized programs.
After voters approved the bond question the state asked colleges and universities to apply for funding for “shovel-ready” projects.
Statewide, 46 institutions are slated to receive money for 176 different projects. The projects have been sent to the state Legislature for a vote.
The largest sums will go to the state’s public research universities, with Rutgers University to receive $357 million.