NJ STARS Program

NJ STARS is an exciting new initiative in New Jersey that provides Ocean County's brightest students with free tuition at Ocean County College. Governor McGreevey recently announced his commitment to fund the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) program, which will provide tuition and fees for up to five semesters at a community college to students who graduate in the top 20 percent of their class.

NJ STARS (the Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship) is pending legislative approval. For the most recent developments, please visit the State of New Jersey's website.

General Information
-Two years of full-time tuition and fees paid for at any New Jersey Community College.
-Student must be enrolled in a curriculum that leads to a degree.
-NJ STARS shall not exceed cost of attendance at an institution when combined with all forms of financial aid.
-If student is dismissed for academic or disciplinary reasons, the student is no longer eligible for a scholarship -under this program and must repay in full all amounts received under this program.
-This program begins on July 1, 2004.

Eligibility
-Applicant must be a NJ state resident.
-Applicant must be in the top 20% of their High School graduating class.
-Participants in the program must have graduated from high school after 2004 and not earlier than 2 calendar years before scholarship payments commence.
-Must be enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester (not including credit hours in a remedial or developmental curriculum).
-Must apply for all other available forms of state and federal financial aid (exclusive of loans and private funding) by completing a FAFSA.
-Scholarship will be renewed if student maintains a 3.0 GPA in a full-time degree seeking program at the college.

For more information contact Ocean County College (OCC)

Phone: 732.255.0525
Email: njstars@ocean.edu
Website: www.ocean.edu