NJ STARS: Get Someone To Pay Your Way

By Lizzie McAllister

How would you like to have someone else pay for your first two years of college?

A new scholarship program, aimed at encouraging New Jersey high school students to attend community college in-state, does just that. Each year, the number of recipients increases.

You could be one of them.

The New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship, NJ STARS, offers five semesters of tuition and approved fees at a two-year community college to those eligible. Starting with the class of 2004, New Jersey students who graduate in the top 20 percent of their high school class can apply. A list of those students is sent to each two-year school and everyone on the list is pre-approved.

The Financial Aid office sends letters informing students that they are eligible for NJ STARS and most students apply after registering. After the students complete FAFSA paperwork, they could receive approval in about two weeks. The scholarship requires the recipient to maintain full time enrollment, between 12 and 15 credits per semester. In order to be eligible the second year, the recipient must hold a 3.0 grade point average after the first year of coursework.

Tatyana Koscheeva is a STARS scholar who found out about the program from her high school guidance counselor. She applied after registering at RVCC and learned she had been granted the scholarship a few weeks later.

“I felt honored. They even took a picture of me for the brochure,” she said. She is graduating RVCC this spring and will attend a four-year college in the fall.

The scholarship money will go with her.

Koscheeva expects to be awarded a STARS II grant which helps students continuing their education at a four-year school by paying the cost of tuition and approved fees. Students must have earned their associates degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Koscheeva’s GPA is 3.92.

“I want to go to law school. That’s why this program is great, no loans. It’s academically challenging, trying to keep above a 3.0 GPA,” she said, “and looks great on transcripts. It’s an awesome program.”

Koscheeva said people don’t realize that having good grades means getting scholarships. “If I had a chance to talk to high school students,” she said, “I’d tell them to keep their grades up. It’s worth it.”

For information about NJSTARS, call 1-800-334-NJCC, email: info@njccc.org or visit: www.njstars.net