Students who take years of college at Atlantic Cape, then at Stockton can earn MBA Press staff reports ATLANTIC CITY — Students can earn both their bachelor’s degree and a masters in business in five years under a new agreement signed this week between Atlantic Cape Community College and Stockton University On Tuesday, Stockton President Harvey Kesselman and Atlantic Cape President Barbara Gaba met at the Atlantic City campus to sign the agreement for what’s billed as a “2+3” program, where students earn their associate degree in two years at Atlantic Cape, complete their bachelor’s degree at Stockton in two years, then earn their MBA in one more year through Stockton’s Accelerated Dual Degree Program for Business Majors “Business Studies is the largest program at Stockton,” Kesselman said “We are currently expanding our business programs and are thrilled to partner with Atlantic Cape on this opportunity to help their students earn an MBA in five years.” “This is another great opportunity for area students to obtain higher education degrees without accumulating additional student debt,” said Gaba “We are happy to partner with Stockton to offer this accelerated MBA program.” The agreement expands on a transfer agreement signed by the two institutions in 2017 and updated by Transfer Pathways in 2020, which allows students to complete their associate degree at Atlantic Cape with guaranteed admission to Stockton as juniors to complete their bachelor’s degree That agreement included a provision to develop specific program-to-program articulation agreements in highdemand majors to facilitate student transfers Stockton currently offers a 4+1 MBA program that allows students to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years Students must maintain a 3.4 GPA or higher at Atlantic Cape and a 3.5 GPA at Stockton to remain in the program, the same requirement as for Stockton students Core courses at Atlantic Cape have been aligned with equivalent Stockton courses to ensure students meet program requirements Atlantic Cape already offers an associate degree in business administration This week, Atlantic Cape also announced that any in-county student enrolled at the college will have tuition waived this fall on three credits The program is open to new and existing students Those already enrolled in classes will receive a credit on their account This funding is available from the federal government’s Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) Classes begin Aug 30 For more information, visit atlantic.edu/fall