No Single Way to Succeed
From dual enrollment and community college to internships and flexible degree programs, South Jersey students have more than one way to turn education into their future careers.
The path from high school to a career used to seem straightforward. You graduate from high school, attend a four-year university, earn a degree and enter the workforce. And for many students, this remains the case. But some of today’s South Jersey students are taking a different approach, building their education around their individual goals, circumstances and career interests.
For some students, the college experience starts while they are still enrolled in high school. With dual enrollment, students can take college courses and earn credits before graduating. Depending on the student’s goals and program, these credits can help reduce the number of courses needed later on and potentially shorten the time and cost of earning a degree.
“There are plenty of students who will start as full-time college students right out of high school,” says Rory McElwee, Rowan’s vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of university college. “However, we have many students who are doing dual enrollment or early college experiences during high school so that they can graduate with [as much as] an associate degree.”
A four-year university isn’t always the starting point for a bachelor’s degree. That’s where community and state colleges provide another entry point, allowing students to complete coursework or an associate degree before transferring to a university.
“Choosing a community college isn’t about settling for less—it’s about recognizing that opportunity can take many forms and that the right career pathway is the one that helps you reach your goals,” says Dr. Lovell Pugh-Bassett, president of Camden County College. “We thrive on the opportunity to not only help our students navigate their journey, but to allow their needs to refine how we serve them.”
Some students arrive on campus with a career path set in mind, while others are still figuring out what they want to pursue. This uncertainty is a common part of the college experience, with some students choosing to remain undecided, change their majors multiple times or realize halfway through college that it’s something they’d like to attend at a later time.
“It’s perfectly normal not to have everything figured out before entering college,” says Madeline Levy, director of career and academic success initiatives at Rutgers University–Camden. “College is a time for discovery and growth. The goal is to make an informed next decision, not necessarily a decision that locks you into one direction forever. The Career Advancement Center at Rutgers–Camden fields these kinds of questions all the time, and we help students navigate their choices through assessments, career coaching and experiential learning.”
Karen Archambault, senior vice president of enrollment management and student success at Rowan College at Burlington County, offers similar advice to students who are still considering their options.
“While college or any other educational journey is a major step, they don’t need to be able to map their entire future in order to take the first steps,” she says. “Many successful people changed their minds about their pathway even after they were on it. At the community college, we pride ourselves on being a part of the journey and recognize that we are able to offer not only a low-cost option but a highly flexible one, so that students can adjust as their paths change.”
For those students who are unsure about a particular career, getting a glimpse of the day-to-day reality can be just as valuable as choosing a degree program.
“I encourage students to explore,” continues Levy. “Talk to people working in fields that interest you, job shadow when possible, attend college open houses and ask questions about academic programs, financial aid, support services and career opportunities. You don’t have to know your ultimate career goal to take a meaningful first step.”
Stockton University also makes career development part of the college experience from the beginning. “We have a wonderful office called the Career Education and Development Office, and it provides career coaching, career fairs, workshops and even a career closet—for when students need clothing for an interview,” says Tracey Meilander, associate provost for curriculum and compliance at Stockton University.
Not every student is able to follow a traditional college schedule. Some might be full-time or part-time workers, while others are raising families, changing careers or returning to school after time away. This adaptability has increased the importance of flexible programs, including online and hybrid options, for students with busy schedules.
“Rowan has a number of fully online, asynchronous degree programs,” McElwee says. “A student can earn a high-quality Rowan University degree and be served with high-quality student services and never step foot on our campus. With this, students can work on their own time, with folks that meet with students virtually to provide the support that they need.”
This flexibility extends beyond the location where students take their courses. Options such as career-focused programs, specialized degrees and technical certifications can give students alternative ways to build skills without having to follow the traditional sequence of general education courses followed by a major.
“Many of our programs are career-focused, including programs in health sciences, technology, arts and more,” says Archambault. “In addition, we offer extensive dual enrollment programs with more than 30 high school partners as well as support for homeschool students looking for college options. We also have a wide range of experiential learning options—not only traditional internships, but also service learning, micro-internships and project-based options that allow students to get experience without needing to put their lives on hold for a more traditional internship program.”
Internships have always been a popular way for students to test what they’ve learned in a professional environment, develop workplace skills and build connections. Career-focused programs can also incorporate projects or other hands-on experiences that reflect the work students will encounter in their chosen fields.
At Stockton, those experiences are part of the connection between classroom learning and professional preparation. “We have internships, service learning with the community, interdisciplinary projects, study abroad, global learning and clinicals for students to apply what they learn in the classroom to a real-world setting.”
For any college, it is important to pair education with the right opportunities so students can feel confident in choosing a career. That’s why programs must align with the needs of a constantly changing workforce.
“As workforce demands change, our programs must remain responsive, which means listening to our business and industry partners, understanding emerging opportunities and ensuring that our students are developing skills that have value beyond the classroom,” Pugh-Bassett says. “We don’t simply want students to earn a credential—we want that credential to mean something to the student, to an employer and to the community.”
The many options available today can make the college decision more complicated, but they also make it possible for students to find a path that fits their goals and circumstances.
“Our goal should be for students to leave with a degree, confidence in their abilities, meaningful experiences and a clear understanding of how to navigate their next steps,” Levy says. “Success isn’t just getting students across the graduation stage—it’s preparing them to thrive after they leave us.”
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Published and copyrighted in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 23, Issue 7 (October 2026).
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