Brookdale Community College has been recognized as the best community college in New Jersey by Niche for the third consecutive year.The Lincroft-based school topped Raritan Valley and Salem among community colleges in the state. See complete list here.Niche says it evaluates more than 1,000 colleges and universities annually based on a rigorous analysis of academic, admissions, financial, and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education, coupled with reviews from students and alumni.This year, Niche introduced an economic mobility index to assess how well institutions improve the economic standing of low-income students and removed ACT/SAT scores from its methodology to reflect the nationwide shift in admissions practices.Brookdale earned an overall Niche grade of B+, with a 100% acceptance rate and a net price of $8,962. The college’s academic excellence is further supported by student feedback, with 81% of students agreeing that professors put a lot of effort into teaching their classes, and 91% expressing confidence in finding a job in their field after graduation.President David Stout obviously was thrilled.“This ranking is a testament to our dedicated faculty and staff, who work tirelessly to support student success, and to our students and alumni, whose achievements inspire us every day,” he said.Brookdale offers Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Fine Arts (AFA), Associate of Science (AS), and Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees across 75 academic programs, as well as 7 Academic Credit Certificates and 11 Academic Credit Certificates of Achievement. The college also provides fully online degree programs in Business Administration, English, History, Liberal Education, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Social Sciences, along with an online Cybersecurity Certificate of Achievement.“This recognition affirms for prospective students and their families that Brookdale is the best place to begin or continue their educational journey,” Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs Katie Lynch said

Money Moves is a recurring series where we chart the raises, grants, contracts, mergers and other funding news of tech companies across our regions. Have a tip? Email us at [email protected] old adage “you have to spend money to make money” rings especially true in this month’s Money Moves.Local railroad tech company Wabtec Corporation secured a nearly $250 million contract to support expanding its work in Africa, following recent promises to invest over $1 billion through acquisitions.Another firm balancing the ins and outs of its cash flow, local simulation software company Ansys has sold off one of its businesses to address a regulatory hurdle, ensuring its $35 billion acquisition by Synopsys will proceed as planned.Read on for more on these investments, plus other money moves, after the chart showing which companies are hiring in Pittsburgh this month. Wabtec invests nearly $2B in acquisitions, secures a $248M contractWabtec Corporation, a North Shore-based technology provider for the railroad industry, has made a series of announcements over the last three months to invest nearly $2 billion in acquisitions. In November, Wabtec announced a $110 million cash acquisition of two international firms: Fanox, a Spanish electrical equipment manufacturer, and Kompozitum, a Slovakian company specializing in carbon and graphite materials. Then in December, the company announced a $69 million cash acquisition of Bloom Engineering Inc., a Pittsburgh-based designer and manufacturer of industrial burners and combustion systems. Most recently, the company announced in January that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the safety technology division of Boston-based inspection company Evident for $1.78 billion by the end of the first half of 2025. While shelling out lots of cash for these endeavors, Wabtec also secured a contract to boost its global presence. Wabtec announced in January it had secured a $248 million contract with African railway development company Winning Consortium Simandou to provide locomotives for a 370-mile long railway connecting an iron-rich mine in Guinea to the Port of Morebaya. Ansys sells business to overcome regulatory challenge of $35B acquisitionCanonsburg-based simulation software company Ansys has announced the sale of one of its businesses to resolve a regulatory issue that threatened its $35 billion acquisition by California-based electronic design automation firm Synopsys.In January 2024, Ansys revealed that Synopsys would acquire the company in a cash-and-stock deal expected to close in the first half of 2025. However, in December, the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns, claiming the acquisition would significantly lessen competition in the supply of specific semiconductor chip design and light simulation products. To address this, Ansys agreed to sell its design software business, PowerArtist, to simulation software company Keysight Technologies, Inc., for an undisclosed amount. Following the announcement, both Ansys and Synopsys confirmed that the acquisition is still on track to close as planned.More money moves: Wexford-based biopharmaceutical company Coeptis closed an additional $5.7 million in its final Series A offering, bringing the total to $10 million after an initial $4.3 million raised in June 2024.Local tech startup Skild AI is in talks with Japanese investment firm SoftBank for a $500 million investment, which would value the company at $4 billion. Skild AI is developing AI tech to control a variety of robots for various tasks.Pittsburgh-based edtech company Niche acquired Goodkind, a communication tool that connects students with universities, for an undisclosed amount. UPMC Enterprises, the venture capital arm of the healthcare company, invested over $150 million combined in three companies: Biotech firm Ouro Medicines, healthtech company Percipio Health and medical daycare provider Spark Pediatrics. Local renewable energy firm Exus Renewables secured $312 million in financing to build a solar and battery storage facility in New Mexico