An American educational delegation recently visited Egypt, including presidents of Ocean County College (OCC) and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), said the chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in Egypt, Thomas Goldberger, adding that OCC’s visit aimed to introduce the community college model to Egypt’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR).
Goldberger, affirmed that the OCC and NJIT are ranked among the top 50 public universities in the US, noting that the community college models play an important role in the American educational system, through offering additional opportunities for high school graduates.
“The American Egyptian educational ties represent so much for the embassy. Our people-to-people exchange is our soft power. We have such a long and important relationship with Egypt in the security and business fields,” mentioned Goldberger.
An American business delegation visited Egypt in October, followed by the latest educational delegation in November, said Goldberger, affirming his country’s support for Egypt’s economic and educational reforms.
Additionally, President of NJIT, Joel Bloom, said that NJIT is a very focused technology college, adding, “today every company is a technology company, so the opportunity to be a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) university is an exciting one.”
Bloom said that the aim of his visit is to eye how the NJIT can partner with the Egyptian university, affirming the NJIT’s commitment to continue growing and building new global universities.
“We invest about $170m in research programmes. We built about 130 faculties over the past six years, and the most important thing is that we continue to support our global relations,” asserted Bloom.
In July 1990, Bloom began his 28-year career at the NJIT as a vice president. As president since 2011, he has been responsible for growing the STEM enrolments from 5,000 students in 1990 to over 11,500 students today. Bloom holds a master’s degree and a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Founded in 1881, the NJIT has six main colleges which are Engineering, Martin Tuchman School of Management, Architecture and Design, Science and Liberal Arts, Albert Dorman Honours College, and Ying Wu College of Computing.
In June 2018, the OCC signed an agreement with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities approving the delivery of the OCC degrees in Egypt, according to data from the American embassy to Egypt.
In September, nine Egyptian universities signed agreements to establish the American Community College on their campuses, noted the data.
