Bill Text: NJ A933 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides NJ STARS II Program eligibility to certain students who attained an associate's degree through a joint program offered by a school district and a county college.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-27 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A933 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A933-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID W. WOLFE
District 10 (Ocean)
Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Egan and Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle
SYNOPSIS
Provides NJ STARS II Program eligibility to certain students who attained an associate's degree through a joint program offered by a school district and a county college.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning eligibility for the NJ STARS II Program and amending P.L.2005, c.359.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.2005, c.359 (C.18A:71B-86.4) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. For an eligible student enrolled in a full-time course of study at a New Jersey four-year public institution of higher education, a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program shall be paid to the institution in the amount of $2,000 for each semester of enrollment commencing in the 2006-2007 academic year. For each academic year thereafter, the amount of the scholarship shall be increased by one-half of the average percentage increase over the prior academic year in undergraduate tuition and fees for all four-year public institutions of higher education and shall be paid to the institution for each semester of enrollment in that academic year; except that the amount of the scholarship shall not exceed $2,500 per semester. The scholarship amount awarded shall be in addition to any other State and federal need-based grants and merit scholarships to which the student is entitled. The four-year public institution of higher education shall waive or provide an institutional scholarship for any tuition and fee amount for the student, for up to 18 credits, that exceeds the sum of the NJ STARS II scholarship and any other State and federal grants and scholarships to which the student is entitled. The institution shall not be required to waive or provide an institutional scholarship for tuition and fees for credits in excess of 18 credit hours in any single semester.
b. A student shall be eligible for a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program for up to four semesters, excluding summer sessions, at a New Jersey four-year public institution of higher education.
c. A student shall be eligible to receive a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program for the student's third academic year of study if the student: attained an associate's degree from a New Jersey county college; received a scholarship under the "New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) Program Act," P.L.2004, c.59 (C.18A:71B-81 et seq.), or was eligible for but did not receive a scholarship under NJ STARS because the student's tuition and fees were fully covered by other State or federal need-based grants or merit scholarships, for each semester of study in the county college, or was eligible for but did not receive a scholarship under NJ STARS because the student was enrolled while a high school student in county college courses leading to an associate's degree in accordance with a joint program offered by the student's school district and a county college; attains a grade point average of at least 3.0 for the second academic year of study in the county college or for an equivalent period in the case of a high school student enrolled in county college courses leading to an associate's degree in accordance with a joint program offered by the student's school district and a county college; enrolls in a baccalaureate degree program at a New Jersey four-year public institution of higher education for the third academic year of study in the academic year immediately following the student's attainment of an associate's degree; and meets the criteria set forth in subsection e. of this section. A grade for credits earned during a summer semester shall for the purposes of this subsection be included in the calculation of the grade point average for the preceding academic year.
d. A student shall be eligible to receive a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program for the student's fourth academic year of study if the student: received a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program for the student's third academic year of study pursuant to subsection c. of this section; based on the student's performance during the third academic year of study, attained a grade point average of at least 3.0; and meets the criteria set forth in subsection e. of this section. A grade for credits earned during a summer semester shall for the purposes of this subsection be included in the calculation of the grade point average for the preceding academic year.
e. To be eligible to receive a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program, a student shall:
(1) be a State resident pursuant to guidelines established by the authority;
(2) have applied for all other available forms of State and federal need-based grants and merit scholarships, exclusive of loans, the full amount of which grants and scholarships shall be applied to tuition and fee charges;
(3) be enrolled in a full-time course of study at a four-year public institution of higher education; and
(4) maintain continuous enrollment in a full-time course of study, unless on medical leave due to the illness of the student or a member of the student's immediate family or emergency leave because of a family emergency, which medical or emergency leave shall have been approved by the four-year public institution of higher education.
f. A student who is dismissed for academic or disciplinary reasons from a four-year public institution of higher education shall no longer be eligible for a scholarship under this act. If a student participating in the program is dismissed for disciplinary reasons, the student shall repay in full all amounts received under the program. The four-year public institution of higher education shall be responsible for collecting the repayment, or the amount of any overpayment or other improper payment, of any State awards under the program, in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.18A:71B-10.
g. A student scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program may be renewed upon the student's filing of a renewal financial aid application and providing evidence that the student has satisfied the requirements pursuant to this section.
(cf: P.L.2005, c.359, s.4)
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the 2007-2008 academic year.
STATEMENT
This bill addresses a unique situation which has come to light since the establishment of the NJ STARS II Program. A number of school districts have established joint programs with a county college under which advanced high school students may take county college courses while still in high school and earn an associate's degree prior to high school graduation. Such students will then be entering college as junior year students. Under present law these students would not be able to take advantage of the NJ STARS II Program to finance the third and fourth years of their college education because they were not recipients of an NJ STARS scholarship. In light of the fact that the purpose of NJ STARS and NJ STARS II is to encourage such academically-talented students to pursue their higher education in New Jersey, the ineligibility of joint program students is not only inherently unfair but is at cross purposes with the intent of these scholarship programs.
This bill will provide NJ STARS II scholarship eligibility to students who would have been eligible for NJ STARS except for their enrollment as a high school student in a joint school district - county college program. Receipt of the NJ STARS II scholarship will of course be dependent upon the student's achievement of the required grade point average in the county college courses.
