{"id":12746,"date":"2025-12-11T14:11:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T19:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/?p=12746"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:08:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:08:40","slug":"saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Joins Hudson County Community College Connect Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

JERSEY CITY, N.J.<\/strong> \u2013 Two historic Hudson County institutions of higher education came together in partnership on Tuesday, December 2nd, to sign a new partnership agreement, establishing Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University as an official partner of the Connect program at Hudson County Community College<\/a>. Both Hubert Benitez, D.D.S., Ph.D., president of Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, and Chris Reber, Ph.D., president of Hudson County Community College, signed the agreement and were joined by a contingent of administrators and staff instrumental in creating the details of the partnership. \"photo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Started two years ago at Hudson County Community College, Connect allows students a seamless transfer pathway to earn a bachelor’s degree. It provides dual enrollment and is uniquely designed to help students complete their bachelor’s degrees on time and save money. Over 200 students are currently part of the program. The Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s agreement came together quickly, only taking four months, a testament to the commitment of both schools to offer this opportunity. Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s will offer 16 programs to students including accounting, biology, business administration, criminal justice, cyber security, education, and psychology. Six of these programs will also include graduate opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Lisa Dougherty, senior vice president for student affairs and enrollment, opened the signing ceremony by explaining the unique nature of this program and why it benefits students. \u201cFrom day one at Hudson they have an identity as being a Hudson student and a Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s student and they know, from day one, that they will transfer to Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s. They are assigned a transfer success coach that works for Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s that works at Hudson\u2026that is the secret sauce of this program.\u201d Alexandra Ruiz, admissions & enrollment specialist at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, will be acting as the liaison and transfer coach for the Connect Program. That identity for students is not just in the classroom; they will be able to take part in athletics at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s, use facilities like the library, and attend events. Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University professors will also teach third year classes at Hudson County Community College.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next to speak was Guillermo de Veyga, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, who spoke about how important it is to provide options to all students. \u201cWe are not trying to compete with others. We\u2019re simply trying to offer another alternative. We are offering our students and your students the opportunity to choose to go somewhere that they feel welcome in the same way that we have been today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>Ultimately though, everyone agreed the reason we come together is for these students. As Dr. Reber said in his remarks, \u201cSo much more is possible when we work together, as institutions, as colleagues, around a single common value. Why are all of us doing this work in higher education? It\u2019s because of our students. We are all united by a commitment, providing life changing opportunities for our students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon taking the podium, Dr. Benitez spoke directly to the students in the room. After explaining the Jesuit value of \u201ccare for the whole person\u201d that makes Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s unique, Dr. Benitez said, \u201cIt is values based education. For the students in the room, I say this, and I say it with all confidence, every single student, I believe, feels at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s, it is home. \u2018Hudson is Home\u2019 for Hudson County Community College; Hudson is home for Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about the CONNECT program<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JERSEY CITY, N.J. \u2013 Two historic Hudson County institutions of higher education came together in partnership on Tuesday, December 2nd, to sign a new partnership agreement, establishing Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University as an official partner of the Connect program at Hudson County Community College. Both Hubert Benitez, D.D.S., Ph.D., president of Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, and Chris […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1293,"featured_media":12752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5,2,6],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-12746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-current-students","category-faculty-staff","category-future-students","category-press-release","tag-press"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nÂ鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Joins Hudson County Community College Connect Program - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Â鶹ÊÓƵ's University welcomed its largest freshmen class in either years as the 25-26 year kicks off with Mass of the Holy Spirit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dbocchino\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dbocchino\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e34d0022b2f64ab992c01054c76a4ab2\"},\"headline\":\"Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Joins Hudson County Community College Connect Program\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-11T19:11:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-23T19:08:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/\"},\"wordCount\":595,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/12\/20251202_143453-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"press\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Current Students\",\"Faculty Staff\",\"Future Students\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/saint-peters-university-joins-hudson-county-community-college-connect-program\/\",\"name\":\"Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Joins Hudson County Community College Connect Program - 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