The New Jersey Department of Education, like any state's, plays an active role in some governance in its community colleges. A Department of Education, however, must focus on all levels of schooling within the state. This is particularly true with New Jersey. New Jersey includes 31 public universities and 33 independent colleges. These include Rutgers University (the state university of New Jersey), as well as the Ivy League institution, Princeton University. To help focus on community colleges, the Department of Education allocated much of the governance over to the Commission on Higher Education.
New Jersey's Commission on Higher Education helps all schools of higher education work with the state government over funding and long-term projects. The Commission specifically governs over all higher education policies that would be under the controls of the Department of Education. The Commission represents all the interests of colleges and universities in the state to the Department of Education and to the governor's office. Community colleges work directly with the Commission, however, community colleges must also compete for the attention of the Commission. As of 2011, the Commission states that it works with all 64 schools of higher education in the state, including the 19 community colleges.
The Higher Education Restructuring Act, enacted in June 1994, gives all colleges a more active role as self-governing bodies. Under the Act, all community colleges, or county colleges as they are called in New Jersey, can direct educational resources to certain academic or pre-professional fields that are provided by the school. Under the Act, each county college works directly with their nearest state college or university and Rutgers. This strategy helps maximize the amount of students who will complete their degrees at the four-year schools. The Act also lets each community college set its own tuition as long as a public hearing is held to all interested citizens.
The Council of County Colleges represents the interests of community colleges in New Jersey exclusively. The Council follows all provisions under the Higher Education Restructuring Act and makes sure the Commission or the Department of Education is adequately funding and appreciating the community college system. The Council has a President and an Executive Director who help lobby for increasing funding, providing more workforce opportunities for students, and increasing the number of students who wish to attend four-year institutions in New Jersey such as Princeton or Rutgers Universities.