in our Spotlight on Business Report two years after declaring a fiscal emergency does NJCU have a path forward the legislative higher ed committees today met to hear from leaders at New Jersey City University and those monitoring the Hudson County School's finances to figure out if the improvements made are enough to keep the University open and on financially stable footing senior correspondent Joanna Gagis has the details [Music] so is it reasonable for the members with microphones here to work with a debt figure of $337 million yes if you want to combine the debt and capital needs yes that sounds like a accurate ballpark to be in that $337 million sending shock waves through the Senate and assembly higher education committees they held a joint hearing today to review the fiscal accountability plan for New Jersey City University which found itself in deep debt just over a year ago after mismanagement of funds by its previous administration what you take in and what you spend just on salaries is equal that doesn't include the electric bill Capital that doesn't include anything else is that correct that's correct that's where State Appropriations for a public institution comes in all right so we're not basically you're not asking for State appropriation for a long-term plan you're asking for survivability Senate committee chair Joe cryan grilling the new president Andres Acebo who stepped into the role to help turn the school finances around nonetheless now subject to a frustrated legislature trying to determine whether the state should try to save a sinking ship Cryan pointing to their 20% graduation rate it's less than 4 and 10 today on a six-year graduation rate correct that's correct for first time full-time freshman but Acebo pushed back demonstrating significant steps he's taken in partnership with the monitor Henry Amoroso who was put in place to oversee the school's efforts to get out of debt we've pursued to minimize institutional bureaucracy we've overhauled our general education curriculum we've adopted policies that are more responsive and attentive to our student population part of that effort has included a strategic cutting of certain courses and programs that asbo says maximize their finite dollars we have a policy that no courses will be cancelled once they have been listed and a student relies on it and builds their life around that course offering based on the testimony we heard today there's a strong likelihood that NJCU will need to partner or merge with another institution in order to survive unless it receives a significant infusion of cash from the state but what that number is no one could say definitively today they have the lowest average student income household income of any institution in the state um and given the resources that the institution has and the the capital needs it has um unless the state is willing to to uh invest substantially to get them on more solid footing it will be an institution that would always basically be robbing Peter to pay Paul we shouldn't be linear in our thinking as to what a partnership May entail a partnership May entail a relationship it may be shared services it may be the allocation of resources and programs so the students of of Hudson County and the immediate region have greater opportunity than they presently have it may ultimately lead into a merger but to be independent Amoroso outlined a number of abilities for reducing debt but even then state aid is critical our overall Capital needs are probably north of $75 $80 million in order to create an appropriate learning environment you saw some of our classrooms so fixing the infrastructure the pipes the HVAC the roofs the parking garage that doesn't get us to the enhanced learning environment and the enhanced living environment that our students rightfully deserve as well as our entire staff suffice it to say they all have their work cut out for them to determine if the almost hundred-year-old University survives in Trenton I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight news support for the business report is provided by experience of vibrancy of newark's arts and education district [Music]