By Dr. K.L. Allen, Regional Vice President, Northeast, Western Governors University Trenton’s workforce depends on the students most likely to fall through the cracks: transfer students. Nearly half of all undergraduates in New Jersey are enrolled in community colleges, including thousands of stud ents at Mercer County Community College serving Trenton and the surrounding region. Yet the learners with the clearest aspirations to earn a bachelor’s degree, and the strongest economic incentive to finish, continue to face the steepest, most unintentional barriers. These outcomes matter deeply in New Jersey, where employers in healthcare, public service, logistics, and technology depend on a steady pipeline of credentialed local talent. The data tells its own story. More than 80 percent of community college students nationally intend to earn a bachelor’s degree, but only a third successfully transfer, and only a fraction of those who transfer ultimately graduate. In Trenton and Mercer County, those lost opportunities land at the exact moment when employers are struggling to hire nurses, educators, IT specialists, cybersecurity professionals, and business operations staff fast enough to meet local demand. According to a recent statewide analysis, just 36.9 percent of first-time New Jersey community college students transferred to a four-year institution within six years. Among those who do transfer, roughly 20.9 percent complete a bachelor’s degree within six years. The state cannot afford to leave this talent on the sidelines. When fewer students successfully transfer and complete bachelor’s degrees, the shortages employers are already experiencing deepen, slowing their ability to meet demand. The transfer conversation is one of workforce readiness, mobility, and long-term economic stability. The Stakes Are High in New Jersey Unlike many states, New Jersey relies heavily on community colleges to fuel upward mobility and meet its future labor needs. According to the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, tens of thousands of students enter community colleges each year with the goal of transferring, yet far too many encounter stalled progress, unclear pathways, lost credits, and confusing transfer rules that disrupt momentum at critical moments. When a credit does not transfer, it often means a financial setback for students in Trenton and beyond, an extended graduation timeline, and a delayed opportunity to secure a higher-wage job. Compounding this, the state’s labor projections offer a stark warning: by 2031, 68 percent of all jobs in New Jersey will require some level of postsecondary education, from certificates to graduate degrees. That includes sectors like healthcare and STEM, which are projected to grow by 18 percent and 13 percent, respectively, over the coming decade. These barriers hit Trenton’s most motivated learners the hardest: working parents balancing multiple jobs, adults returning to education after job loss, first-generation college students navigating the process without a roadmap, and low-income learners who cannot afford to retake coursework. For employers, these barriers translate to fewer ready candidates for hospitals, school districts, and technology companies already working to fill critical roles. This means fewer nurses entering hospitals already strained by shortages. It means fewer certified teachers entering classrooms. It means unfilled roles in technology and logistics, sectors that underpin the state’s long-term economic growth. Solutions Exist, and New Jersey Can Lead With a Statewide Strategy But New Jersey isn’t starting from zero. Some recent studies show that New Jersey’s community college students generally outperform their national peers in both transfer and bachelor’s completion rates. But data also shows persistent gaps, especially among Black, Hispanic, low-income, and first-generation students, in both transfer rates and degree completion. To translate potential into results across the board, New Jersey needs consistent credit articulation policies that reduce the credit loss that discourages persistence. Strengthening cross-institution advising ensures students starting out in community colleges throughout the state receive reliable guidance from the moment they start a program to the moment they complete it. Modernizing data-sharing systems can also help institutions track student progress and intervene earlier when learners face obstacles. Recognizing prior learning and workforce experience more widely will allow adults to earn credit for skills they have already mastered, accelerating their path to a degree and making completion more attainable for those who do not have the luxury of pausing work or caregiving responsibilities. Improved transfer outcomes also strengthen hiring pipelines for Trenton-area employers, helping them fill vacancies more quickly and reduce the backlog of open roles. These strategies work because they acknowledge a simple truth: transfer students bring experience, maturity, and purpose to their education. The more the system is designed around what these learners need, the more New Jersey benefits in graduation rates, in workforce participation, and in the overall competitiveness of its economy. Transfer Is at the Center of New Jersey’s Economic Future The transfer conversation has always been about more than credits. It is about mobility, equity, and the state’s ability to shape a workforce capable of meeting 2026’s demands and beyond. With an aging population and a declining number of high school graduates, New Jersey’s future labor force will increasingly depend on adult learners and transfer students to sustain economic growth. New Jersey has an opportunity to lead nationally by building the most coherent, coordinated transfer system in the region. But the window to do so is narrowing. As demographic shifts reduce the number of new high school graduates entering higher education, the state will rely even more heavily on adult learners and community college transfer students to fill high-skill, high-need roles. The urgency is real. If New Jersey does not strengthen transfer pathways, hiring timelines will lengthen and high-demand sectors will continue to face an inadequate supply of qualified workers. Strengthening transfer pathways is how we ensure that anyone who begins their educational journey, no matter where they start, has a fair, attainable path to finish it. Dr. K.L. Allen is the Regional Vice President of the Northeast region at Western Governors University. He has spent nearly two decades working to close the gap between college completion and workforce readiness by expanding access and affordability for learners of all backgrounds. ...read more read less