Help available for struggling NJ community college students

New Jersey is signing on to a new initiative to improve student success rates at county colleges.

Jacob Farbman, executive director of the New Jersey Council of County College, says Scaling Up Community College Efforts for Student Success "helps community colleges identify ways to strengthen students support and academic support systems ... so that students have more access to and better utilize services that are available to them."

Those services could include, for instance, tutoring or career counseling, said Farbman, who is also the executive director of The Center for Student Success.

"It also helps students who have to enroll in developmental courses if they're not quite college-ready," he said.

The program is based on research done by the U.S. Army over the last 15 years, he said.

Farbman said the SUCCESS program is already up and running in Indiana and California.

"It is a tried and true practice that has shown results throughout the country," he said. "And we are very excited for this opportunity to bring it to New Jersey."

The Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, a nonprofit education and social research organization, will oversee the program.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5.