NJ STARS Ocean County College FAQs

1.The New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship program (NJ STARS) rewards high achieving New Jersey high school graduates by providing scholarships to cover the cost of tuition for up to five (5) semesters of full-time study at their home county colleges.

2. Admission Requirements:

Financial Aid Requirements:

Complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Returning students who receive Tuition Aid Grant in 2011-2012 must file FAFSA by June 1, 2012. All other applications must be filed by October 1, 2011, for fall and spring terms. March 1, 2012 is the deadline date for spring term only.

Complete any required paperwork requested by the Financial Aid Office, the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (NJHESAA) or the federal government.

Graduate from high school in 2011 in the top 15% of your high school class. (Your standing is not subject to rounding. Your GPA must place you at 15.0% or above.)

Be a dependent child of a parent who has been transferred to a military installation located in New Jersey.

Be a New Jersey resident.

Be a citizen of the United States or eligible resident alien.

Admission Requirements:

Complete an Application for Admission to Ocean County College and indicate NJ STARS on the application.

Request a current High School Transcript be sent to OCC Registration and Records Office

Submit Test Scores to OCC Registration and Records Office to demonstrate college readiness:

SAT Scores: 540 Critical Reading, 530 Math

or

HSPA Scores: 235 Language Arts, 250 Math

If you do not have the above test scores, make an appointment for an Accuplacer Test at 732 255-0401

Students must demonstrate college readiness through SAT, HSPA or Accuplacer test results. NJ STARS funding will not be awarded until all required remedial coursework is complete. Students who began in Fall 2009 or later will have one year to complete remedial coursework.

File for FAFSA- http://www.fafsa.ed.gov indicating Ocean County College as First Choice. The College Code for Ocean County College is 002624.

Complete an Ocean County College Verification Application for NJ STARS which can be obtained through www.ocean.edu or the Financial Aid Office.

Register as a full-time student in a degree-seeking program.

Adhere to all Financial Aid Deadlines:

October 1: New Students Beginning in the Fall Semester

March 1: New Students Beginning in the Spring Semester

June 1: Returning Students

Request an Official Final High School Transcript to be sent to OCC Registration and Records Office. Final transcripts are sent after date of graduation; include all final grades and class rank.

Contact Advising Office at (732) 255-0300 to schedule an Orientation

April: New Students beginning in the Fall semester

November: New Students beginning in the Spring semester

3. Your high school guidance office sent a list of those students in the top 15% of your high school graduating class to the NJ Higher Education Assistance Authority (NJHESSA) in January of your senior year based on your class standing at the end of your junior year. If you did not rank in the designated percentage in your junior year but met this requirement in your senior year, you must complete an NJ STARS Self-Identification Form and mail it to the OCC Financial Office.

4. For students graduating in June 2009, approved fees are costs directly related to enrolling in class (such as laboratory fees). Books are not included. Please refer to http://www.hesaa.org/index.php?page=nj-stars-i for a complete list of what is covered. Students graduating in June 2010 and June 2011 receive a "tuition only" scholarship. All fees, including books, are not included.

5. Students who graduated from an adult regional high school in the top 15% may be eligible for NJ STARS. These students should contact Ocean County College Financial Aid Office to find out what is needed to determine eligibility.

6. No, home-schooled students are not eligible as this program is based upon class ranking.

7.Students living in Ocean County who wish to study a curriculum not offered by Ocean County College may be authorized to attend another community college and still remain eligible for NJ STARS. Please see the OCC Registration and Records Office for further details.

8. In order to maintain NJ STARS eligibility, students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0, maintain continuous full-time enrollment (12 or more college level credits) each semester* and file the FAFSA by the deadline date every year.

*Students must be enrolled full-time in the Fall and Spring semesters and are not required to take Summer classes. Students in their 5th and final semester of NJ STARS may attend part-time.

9. If your cumulative grade point average falls below a 3.0 you will be be given the opportunity to improve your GPA. You will also be required to enroll in an enrichment course entitled "Student Success" (Course code ACAD-155). Prior to the beginning of the third semester, you will be required to achieve a 3.0 cumulative GPA in order to maintain NJ STARS eligibility.

10.You must list Ocean County College as the first choice on the FAFSA. You must also report it as the first college of choice to HESAA before the deadline date of November 15 for the Fall/Spring award and March 15 for Spring only awards.

To change your school code go to:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

and

https://www.hesaa.org/SelfServ/jsp/registered/WebAppsGateway.jsp

Please print a copy for your records.

11. If you have attended another college or university for 1-2 semesters, you may be eligible to attend Ocean County College as an NJ STARS student. Please call 732-255-0400 ext. 2000 to assess your eligibility.

12. If a student is dismissed from Ocean County College for disciplinary reasons, the student is no longer eligible for a scholarship under this program and must repay the NJ STARS award.

13. NJ STARS legislation states that NJ STARS can choose to use a semester of funding during the summer if they attend full-time. The State of NJ has suspended this option for the summer of 2011.

14. NJ STARS students who do not achieve the required score on the HSPA, SAT or Ocean County College Placement Test will be given up to one year to gain the skills they need to be college ready. These semesters will be unfunded through the NJ STARS program. Students who do not demonstrate college readiness by the following year are no longer NJ STARS eligible. NJ STARS does not cover costs for remedial coursework.

15. You are required to consult with one of the following staff members before you make a decision to withdraw from a course, the NJ STARS program or Ocean County College for any reason:

Elaine Schardien at 732-255-0400 ext 2000 or eschardien@ocean.edu

Anna Maria Harrison at 732-255-0400 ext 2028 or aharrison@ocean.edu

16. The NJ STARS scholarship is designed to cover your tuition not covered by other federal (i.e. Pell, SEOG) and State (i.e. TAG, GSS) grants and scholarships. You must file the FAFSA to determine if you are eligible for any other types of grant assistance.

Other federal and state grant and scholarship aid for which a student is eligible must be applied first to the cost of tuition. If you are not eligible for any other grants or scholarships, then NJ STARS will be applied. If you are eligible for federal, state grants or scholarships and it is not enough funding to cover your costs, then NJ STARS will be applied.

17. Only in certain cases. If you are eligible for federal and/or state grants and scholarships and those funds do not fully cover your tuition and fees, you will also be eligible for NJ STARS to cover the remaining tuition.

In other words, NJ STARS can be awarded in addition to other grants and scholarships only if those grants and scholarships are insufficient to cover your NJ STARS eligible costs of tuition and fees.

NJ STARS recipients can qualify for the Federal Stafford Loan programs. NJ STARS parents may qualify to borrow from the State's NJCLASS program or the Federal PLUS loan program. More information about these financial aid loan programs is available in the Financial Aid Office.

18. You will be considered a resident of the county in which you can prove domicile. A driver's license, voter registration card or some other official documentation may be used.

19. The STARS program provides financial assistance to students who attend their home county college. Students may enroll for 1-2 semesters at another college or university and still remain eligible for the NJ STARS program.

20. For more information on NJ STARS, visit www.HESAA.org or contact Elaine Schardien at 732-355-0400 ext. 2000 or eschardien@ocean.edu or Financial Aid at finaid@ocean.edu.

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