36 Raritan High Freshmen Begin College A Little Early

HAZLET, NJ — With the incredibly high cost of a college education these days, who wouldn't want to take advantage of this program? Meet the 36 students from Raritan High School who will actually have their associate degree by the time they graduate from high school.

The students, all incoming Raritan High School freshmen from Hazlet and Union Beach, are the newest members of the Explorer Early College Academy, a unique partnership that allows eligible students to earn a Brookdale Community College associate degree. The early college program was created to both save students money on college tuition and better prepare students academically for college.

Beginning this fall, the students will augment their curriculum by taking a series of college-level courses, completing their first 30 college credits in their freshman and sophomore years.

In their junior year the students will study at Brookdale’s Northern Monmouth Higher Education Center in Hazlet, before transferring to Brookdale’s main campus in Lincroft to complete their senior year. If successful, the students will graduate high school ready to begin their junior year of college.

The first two years of the program are free; then the students pay in-county tuition for college-level courses taken at Brookdale's Lincroft campus and Hazlet Higher Education Center. For students taking 15 credits a semester (which the Explorers would be), Brookdale’s tuition and fees are $5,062.50 per year.

“I’m so excited,” said student Vincent Camarda, of Union Beach. “I’m excited about even just the idea of it. Like, I’m going to be a college student and I’m going to be coming out of high school with a college degree. It’s such an amazing opportunity.”

This fall class is only the second to do the program. The students must apply through the school district and be accepted into the program.

“Last year we only had six students in our inaugural class,” said Joseph Annibale, the vice president of learning at the Monmouth County community college. “Here we are looking at 36 students who are going to embark on a journey that’s going to be very challenging, but very rewarding at the same time."

The academy prepares students to transfer to any university in the country, said Brookdale's vice president for learning, Matthew Reed. Or, students can head right into the workforce with their associate degree.

The Explorer Early College Academy is one of seven early-college programs offered in partnership with Brookdale, including similar programs in Asbury Park, Keyport, Middletown, Neptune, Wall Township and at St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel.

The students and their parents were invited to visit Brookdale’s campuses in Lincroft and Hazlet on Monday, Aug. 28 for a pre-semester orientation program, where they were able to tour campus facilities, speak with school representatives, register for courses and apply for their official college IDs.

The 36 students are:

Brandon Bruce

Ashley Buckley

Vincent Camarda

Connor Casey

Amanda Craggan

William DeGroat

Lisbet Garcia

Eric Gibney

Francesca Giordano

Arianna Guerrero

Alyssa Guidetti

Patrick Gull

Timothy Hager

Casady Hand

James Hession

Kaitlyn Hurley

Clariss Jacob

Jean Joyce

Skylar Kube

Shelby LaMattina

Christopher Lemma

Julia Long

Sophia Mejias

Brittney Nguyen

Morgan Petrino

Isabella Piccione

Alexander Powers

Luke Powers

Tyler Ruzzano

Patrick Schenk

Isabella Siso

Jamie Steinberger

Melanie Tencza

Isabella Ventrone

Christian Wilder

Chloe Wong