If you want to go to college for teaching, please be smart financially. Pick an in state, public school. Don’t choose Monmouth (private) that costs nearly twice as much (53,000 cost of attendance per year vs TCNJ at $33,000) . The degree is the same, certification tests are the same. Debt is potentially much worse!
@veehee
TCNJ became a premier school in a short time by doing several things. First, they developed a well funded merit aid program around 1986, actively recruited the winners of the NJ Governor’s Scholar award and developed a dynamic Honors program. This attracted high achieving kids from all over the state. They built upon this foundation, keeping in touch with alumni and building networks for the upcoming classes. Second, they poured their borrowed money into academic and residence halls, transforming the campus into a beautiful environment. Rutgers poured their borrowed money into sports programs and an upgraded football stadium. Third, they kept class sizes small and taught by the professors, not by grad students.
The bad news: TCNJ doesn’t give nearly the amount of merit aid it did previously. The more well known it became, the less it needed to work to attract good students. The NJ public school that gives the most merit aid now is Rowan, which is following in TSC’s footsteps outlined above. Ramapo and Stockton also give good aid, but are much smaller.
Alum of TSC, two kids at Rowan.