By Sunayana Prabhu
HAZLET – Students from Brookdale Community College’s Hazlet campus will soon be “deployed to the Lincroft campus once this semester is completed,” said Laura Oncea, the school’s communications director, confirming that the college has sold its Bayshore satellite campus.
The Hazlet campus location off Union Avenue at 1 Crown Plaza, served northern Monmouth County and was sold for $5.55 million. The sale was brokered by CBRE of East Brunswick. Brookdale’s board of trustees approved the sale at their Sept. 28 meeting, Oncea said.
In an email to The Two River Times, Brookdale Community College’s President David Stout, Ph.D., said “access to higher education has been a cornerstone of Brookdale Community College’s mission.”
Stout explained that, in the summer of 2021, the college leadership worked with the Monmouth County Department of Planning to determine which communities in the county experience the most significant obstacles to higher education and the proximity of those communities to the college’s six locations. One of the most significant findings of this study was the fact that “our Hazlet Higher Education Center is located outside of reasonable walking distance and public transportation routes from northeastern Monmouth County residents with transportation obstacles,” Stout said.
Currently, the Hazlet campus has a total enrollment of 111 students. While the students will be transitioned to Brookdale’s main campus in Lincroft, “the staff will be deployed to Lincroft or another higher education center,” said Oncea.
Throughout Brookdale community college’s six campuses, students are enrolled in two-year associate degrees and certificate programs, as well as noncredit courses in areas of personal and professional interests. In addition to the main campus in Lincroft, Brookdale still has regional locations in Freehold, Long Branch, Neptune and Wall. According to Stout, the college will be soon reviewing options for the Bayshore community. “The sale of our Hazlet Higher Education Center will allow the College to recommit to equitable access for the residents of the Bayshore community, especially those residents with limited transportation options,” he said.
Brookdale serves over 20,000 students per year at all locations.
Students currently attending classes at the Hazlet campus have mixed feeling about the move. While most of them live within a drivable distance of Lincroft, those who depend on public transportation have a new challenge ahead. And while some are excited about the move, they’re also concerned about the longer commute.
“It’s definitely a drive down,” said Carter Mozon, a first-year student who has already started taking classes in Lincroft. “It’d be easier for me to just go here (Hazlet) all the time. It is what it is.”
“I like this campus only because it’s closer to home,” said Britney, a biology major.
Peter Decker lives near Lincroft so transitioning from Hazlet is not going to be challenging for him, he said, but he will miss the Hazlet facility. “I really like this building,” Decker said. “It’s pretty nice. The little student lounge, we can get snacks and drinks. I think it’s a cute building.”
Brookdale first established a Bayshore area campus in Keansburg before opening the Hazlet campus in October 2007.
“We are actively reviewing several options along convenient transportation routes where we can relocate classes and student services” in order to fulfill the demand for satellite education centers in the area, Stout said. The Freehold campus that caters to a growing western Monmouth County includes 409 students; the campus serving Long Branch and neighboring areas currently includes 67 students; Neptune campus serves eastern Monmouth County and the Asbury Park area and currently has 118 students; while the Wall campus serving southern Monmouth County has 239 enrolled students.
Brookdale offers four-year degree pathways with access to master’s and bachelor’s degrees. According to the school’s website, in fall 2020 approximately 12% of its students were also dual enrolled high school students. “Raritan High School (in Hazlet) has arranged transportation for their students” to Lincroft once the Hazlet site closes, Oncea said. “We are working with Keyport High School now toward the same end.”
Stout said there are “no current plans” for changes to the other regional campuses.
The article originally appeared in the October 13 – 19, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
