Official Site of The State of New Jersey

(a) Licensed New Jersey institutions wishing to exceed their programmatic mission must receive approval from the Secretary to offer each program that exceeds the level of academic degrees that the institution is authorized to grant.

b) Upon referral of a request to exceed programmatic mission by the Presidents' Council, the Secretary shall review the program proposal and determine whether all the standards for new academic programs at N.J.A.C. 9A:1-2.10(a) have been met. The Secretary shall consider any recommendations submitted with the President's Council's referral when deciding on the request to exceed the programmatic mission.

(c) In addition to the review at (b) above, requests to exceed an institution’s programmatic mission shall be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. The objectives of the proposed program(s);
2. The relationship of the proposed program(s) to the current institutional mission and the Statewide plan for higher education, if applicable;
3. Demonstration of need for the program(s), including present and projected student demand and demand for graduates;
4. The effect of the proposed program(s) on existing programs at other institutions;
5. The dedication of sufficient resources to implement and maintain the program(s) without eroding the quality of ongoing programs;
6. Appropriately qualified students, faculty, and administrators;
7. The quality of library holdings, facilities, and equipment; and
8. Evidence of strength compared with similar regional and State programs.

(d) If an institution has received approval to exceed its programmatic mission for a particular degree level at least five times, the Secretary may, at the request of the institution, authorize a change to the institution's programmatic degree level to allow the institution to offer new degree programs at the particular degree level for which the five previous exceeding mission approvals have been granted. Institutions wishing to change their programmatic mission before having received such specific program approvals shall follow the procedure set forth at (e) below

(e) Licensed New Jersey institutions wishing to change their programmatic mission shall specify the scope of the proposed change, including long-range plans for mounting new degree programs that exceed the level of academic degrees currently authorized. Requests to the Secretary made pursuant to this subsection to change an institution's programmatic mission shall be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. The objectives of the proposed mission change;
2. The relationship of the proposed mission change to the current institutional mission and the Statewide plan for higher education, if applicable;
3. Demonstration of the need for the mission change, including present and projected student demand and demand for graduates;
4. The effect of the proposed mission change on existing programs at other institutions;
5. The dedication of sufficient resources to implement and maintain the proposed mission change without eroding the quality of ongoing programs;
6. Appropriately qualified students, faculty, and administrators;
7. The quality of library holdings, facilities, and equipment; and
8. Evidence of strength compared with similar regional and State institutions

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