By Raeanne Raccagno
Staff Writer
President Michael Bernstein gave a presentation at the Student Government general body meeting on Nov. 6 where he discussed accomplishments, next steps in the LIONS plan and the College’s budget before the body recognized three clubs.
The College’s budget was the main topic of Bernstein’s presentation. The president noted that stabilizing the College’s funding means making deductions and generating more revenue.
“We're operating on a sustainable path as a college, but also in the future to hopefully generate resources to use for further investment in things we want to do — either things we're currently doing that we'd like to continue to do, or expand or new things that we want to try to do,” Bernstein said.
Focusing on the reduction part of the budget, Bernstein said the administration is pursuing $30 million in reductions for expenses — $20 million in administrative and $10 million in academics. The College’s operating budget is around $260 million a year.
Altogether, the cuts make around a 9% reduction in the budget, which Bernstein mentioned is “roughly” what other higher education institutions in the region are doing. So far in the College’s 2025 fiscal year, it has saved $3 million, which leaves $7 million left for the LIONS plan team to identify permanent reductions.
Bernstein estimates that from working hard this year, FY26 will allocate a little more than $7.5 million in savings from the LIONS plan, leaving the remaining gap shy of $3 million.
Bernstein addressed the increased number of students in courses this fall and the changes students face in scheduling.
“We can talk about some of the stresses and strains around that, but that's generating savings for us and we have to continue that effort to reach our overall $10 million target,” Bernstein said.
Students have been voicing for more collective spaces in the library, according to Bernstein, and the library coordinated action team from the LIONS plan is working on administering them. Bernstein said that while the College needs to make cuts in the library, it also wants to update the building to meet the needs of new students.
In terms of revenue, the president talked about the College’s new School of Graduate, Global and Online Education, which will generate income and benefit new populations of students. He also discussed the profit from the Mercer County Community College partnership which allows students to reside on campus and encourage them to transfer in. The College is also working on establishing a similar relationship, without housing, with Brookdale Community College.
The College is also experimenting to see if it can establish some three-year bachelor's degree programs.
The Dashboard coordinated action team is working on creating a real-time dashboard for budget updates, enrollment, operations and academic outcomes. The last team is devoted to housing, which Bernstein said wasn’t focused on much last year.
According to Bernstein, initiatives for housing include figuring out the future of Travers and Wolfe Halls, continuing to renovate and upgrade dorms, and how they may think about future on-campus and off-campus housing.
“I also want to emphasize that our college is not simply about spreadsheets and budgets,” Bernstein said. “Our mission is education, degree conferral, preparing people for lives and careers and missions of their own. We do that incredibly well.”
The president also said that the College is dedicated to gaining support from alumni and other foundations and how they will continue to do so, and he hopes a lot of the sponsorship will be focused toward scholarships.
He also commented on how all higher education institutions in New Jersey did not receive their desired funding for this year. The state provides the College with about $35 million right now in direct support.
After Bernstein concluded his presentation, he opened the floor for questions and received one about plans for increasing endowments. Bernstein informed the general body of his frequent meetings with John Donohue, vice president of college advancement, where they have been discussing a campaign launch within the next few months to help build endowments.
Another student asked the president if he thinks the first-year residency requirement will deter potential students.
“Some students are going to be deterred by that,” Bernstein said. “They're going to look at TCNJ and say, ‘I don't want to be in a residentially based school’…they're going to select a different institution, so we accept that fact. We're not accepting that [and] making a criticism, we're just saying it's all about finding the right fit for all of you.”
One student brought up how a big portion of the College’s student body feels access to needed classes is deteriorating due to shrinking faculty sizes. Bernstein said he met with Abby O’Connor, president of the faculty senate and chemistry professor, and had a long discussion on this issue.
Bernstein said how they need to think more fluidly about the issue now, which may require professors to teach heavier course loads some years to help combat the number of students who need specific courses.
“I don't want to minimize the challenges we're facing. I know you're all feeling it, I wish it were otherwise,” Bernstein said. “I keep saying to people I'm not expecting you all to jump up and cheer about all of this news. But we have to work together to get that done because we don't want to jeopardize the future of the College.”
One student questioned if raising costs directly on students would be used to help the budget deficit. Bernstein said that the College would like to continue to modestly increase its prices, similar to other institutions. The College has been implementing fees where it has not before, including the pricing differential on single and double housing.
“I know I speak for the entire senior leadership team. We are reluctant to balance our budgets on the backs of our families,” Bernstein said. “We know we have to raise tuition somewhat each year just because of the nature of inflation, but we would like to keep those increases as modest as possible.”
Another student asked about the off-campus properties that the president mentioned he would leverage. He said the College has acquired housing in Ewing Township and Hopewell Township over the years from donor gifts and acquiring some itself. The houses have been used to house, or temporarily house, personnel.
The Trenton State College Corporation, an administrative group of the College, has started to manage the homesteads. Bernstein also said there has been discussion of selling the properties or partnering with commercial developers to develop housing in the surrounding communities.
After Bernstein left, Jared Williams, SG’s executive president, encouraged the general body to bring up any future questions to him or Trish Le, SG’s executive vice president, to discuss with Bernstein in their monthly meetings.
Editor’s note: One of The Signal’s news editors, Kate Zydor, is Student Government’s Vice President for Student Services. She does not assist with writing or editing stories about Student Government.
