Stockton Expanding into Manahawkin

Richard Stockton College is extending into Stafford Township.

College officials confirmed Friday that they have a letter of intent and are finalizing a lease with Manahawkin Plaza Associates for classroom space at 712 East Bay Ave. in the Manahawkin section of the Stafford Township.

Plans call for a 10-year lease starting with 3,400 square feet of space with an option to add an additional 5,000 square feet.

The college has offered some individual courses in Ocean County in the past and that the site will give the college a more permanent location. Plans call for offering eight to 10 courses in each of the undergraduate disciplines, plus graduate courses in education.

A large number of Stockton students come from Ocean County and that this is an opportunity to be more convenient for them. He said some faculty also live in Ocean County and have agreed to teach at the new site.

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, located in Galloway Township, New Jersey, an hour from Philadelphia and 20 minutes from Atlantic City, is an undergraduate and graduate college of the arts, sciences and professional studies of the New Jersey system of higher education. The College was named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Stockton's academic programs and faculty have been recognized by such nationally recognized organizations as the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, the National Science Foundation, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Pulitzer Prize committee, the United States Air Force Academy, and The New York Times.