Bergen Community College

The College’s Interdisciplinary Center for Simulation at the Paramus main campus prepares students for success in Bergen County’s top employment sector – healthcare.

PARAMUS, N.J. – Students preparing to enter Bergen Community College this fall will have expanded options for financial assistance through programs that can even make New Jersey’s No. 1 college for associate degree graduates tuition-free.

When students file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), they become eligible for programs such as the Community College Opportunity Grant that can help make college more affordable. The grant initiative, which began in the spring as a statewide pilot, will now provide a tuition-free Bergen education for students living in households with an adjusted gross incomes of $65,000 or less – up from $45,000 in the pilot. As a “last dollar” initiative, the program covers all remaining tuition and most fees for students taking six or more credits after any other federal or state grants are applied to their tuition bills.

Students who have already completed a financial aid application for the fall 2019 semester will automatically receive consideration for the program. Students who have not yet filed for financial aid can receive assistance completing their FAFSA at weekly workshops hosted by the College each Tuesday from 4 to 6 p.m. in room A-121 at the main campus, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus, New Jersey.

This spring, more than 530 Bergen students attended the College tuition-free as part of the program, while another 2,148 students attended tuition-free through other financial aid programs unlocked by filing a FAFSA. For more information on the opportunity grant and financial aid, visit free.bergen.edu and bergen.edu/fa

Bergen’s fall semester begins Wednesday, Sept. 4. The College offers more than 130 degree and certificate programs in areas such as aviation, criminal justice, dental hygiene, fashion design and hospitality at three locations and online.

Fall schedule:

*Fall 1 – Sept. 4-Dec. 21

*Fall 2 – Sept. 25-Dec. 21

*Fall 3 – Oct. 25-Dec. 21

*Flex 1 – Sept. 4-Oct. 25

*Flex 2 – Oct. 26-Dec. 21

To register for classes, visit bergen.edu or the College’s locations in Paramus (400 Paramus Road), Lyndhurst (1280 Wall Street West) and Hackensack (355 Main Street). For more information, please call (201) 447-7200. The College will also offer special Saturday registration hours Aug. 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the main campus.

In addition to financial aid, Bergen offers numerous support services to help students remain enrolled and on a path for graduation, including the Cerullo Learning Assistance Center, which has twice earned honors as the top tutoring center in the country. Its facilities such as the Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center, the Emil Buehler Trust Observatory and Stryker Manufacturing Lab provide students with hands-on, practice-based learning opportunities. Day and evening classes take place throughout the week – including a “weekend college” program. Alumni have transferred to institutions such as Yale, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 14,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

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