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Accreditor Removes N.J. Community College From Probation

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July 3, 2018

Essex County College, a two-year institution located in Newark, N.J., has exited probationary status with its accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Late last year the accreditor placed Essex on probation over concerns about its leadership, governance and institutional resources. The college had struggled with presidential turnover, was facing federal and state investigations, and later cut 34 jobs.

But Middle States, a regional accreditor, last month reaffirmed Essex's full accreditation and lifted the probation.

“I want to thank the students that entrusted us with their education,” Anthony E. Munroe, the college's president, said in a written statement. “Never was the quality of the education provided at ECC called into question by Middle States. I am appreciative of our dedicated faculty and staff for working tirelessly in fulfilling our mission. And, I want to thank the Board of Trustees for believing in, and supporting, my leadership of Essex County College at such a time as this.”

Paul Fain

Paul Fain, Contributing Editor, came to Inside Higher Ed in September 2011, after a six-year stint covering leadership and finance for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Paul has also worked in higher ed P.R., with Widmeyer Communications, but couldn't stay away from reporting. A former staff writer for C-VILLE Weekly, a newspaper in Charlottesville, Va., Paul has written for The New York Times, Washington City Paper and Mother Jones. He's won a few journalism awards, including one for beat reporting from the Education Writers Association and the Dick Schaap Excellence in Sports Journalism Award. Paul got hooked on journalism while working too many hours at The Review, the student newspaper at the University of Delaware, where he earned a degree in political science in 1996. A native of Dayton, Ohio, and a long-suffering fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, Fain plays guitar in a band with more possible names than polished songs.