Brookdale Community College, located in Lincroft, New Jersey, is an excellent resource for residents of Monmouth County. The College offers (2-year) associate degrees and certificates, plus non-credit classes in many areas of personal and professional interest. Brookdale is an open admission, comprehensive community college. Anyone with a high school or equivalency diploma is eligible to study at Brookdale. However, anyone 18 years or older may enroll at Brookdale even without a high school diploma or equivalency diploma. The College was founded in 1967 and is sponsored by the citizens of Monmouth County through the Board of Chosen Freeholders. The College dedicates itself to equal opportunity for all and does not discriminate against anyone on any basis, in education or employment practices. An appointed Board of Trustees sets policies, fixes tuition and fees, and continually monitors education programs. Most Brookdale students are eligible for various forms of Financial Aid administered through the College. This includes federal and state grants and loans as well as private scholarships offered through the Brookdale Foundation. All students are encouraged to participate in the many campus events, clubs, guest lectures and athletic programs offered through the office of Student Life & Activities. Brookdale also provides a wide range of student services including Leadership & Career Services (Cooperative Education, Work-Study, paid and unpaid Internships, Experiential and Service-Learning, and Graduate Placement), Testing Services, and Disability Services. In the 50 years since Brookdale opened its doors, both the College and the County have grown tremendously. The 220-acre main campus today comprises 22 buildings totaling 731,353 square feet. In the last decade, many new buildings have been constructed. Examples include Larrison Hall, the Center for the Visual Arts, the Bankier Library, and the beautiful newly renovated Fitness Center and Conference & Events Center. The campus also includes a 360-seat Performing Arts Center, an Advanced Technology Center with state-of-the art television and music studios, 10 athletic fields, The Monmouth Museum, Brookdale Public Radio 90.5 The Night, and some 60 computer labs with about 2,000 fully networked PCs running all of today’s mainstream applications at all Brookdale locations. In addition to the main campus in Lincroft, Brookdale also operates Regional Locations around Monmouth County. These regional locations offer local access to Brookdale`s credit and non-credit programs and services, as well as home to our University Partnerships, while contributing to the economic growth of Monmouth County. Brookdale Community College was founded in July 1967 by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, who purchased the Brookdale Farm the following year for the purpose of building a community college for residents. The Brookdale Farm was originally the 800-acre property of horseracing enthusiast David Dunham Withers, a New York resident and one of the original investors of Monmouth Park. Withers raised thoroughbred racehorses on his Brookdale Breeding and Stock Farm, and used the property as his weekend and summer home. After Withers died without heirs in 1892, the Brookdale Farm was purchased by William Payne Thompson for $135,000. The land remained within the Thompson family for many years, and much of the original Brookdale Farm’s 800 acres now comprise Monmouth County’s Thompson Park, Lincroft Elementary School, Marlu Farm, and the Monmouth Museum – in addition to Brookdale’s 220 acres, which the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders purchased from Lewis S. Thompson Jr. in 1968 for the sum of $700,000. Brookdale opened in September 1969 with 54 full-time faculty, 306 students with an average age under 21, an impressive roster of transfer and career programs, a non-credit “community services” division, and an intercollegiate sports program. Read and/or download a PDF version of “Triangle of Land,” the book written by the Monmouth County Chapter of the American Association of University Women.