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NJ STARS Frequently Asked Questions
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1. What is NJ STARS?
2.
What are the eligibility
criteria?
3. How do I know if I am in the top 20% of my high school class?
4. What can I do if I am in the top 20% of my high school graduating class but I am not on the NJHESAA list of eligible students?
5.
What costs does NJ STARS cover?
6. Does NJ STARS cover books, supplies, or other expenses related to my enrollment?
7. Are students who graduated from an adult regional high school in the top 20% eligible for NJSTARS?
8. Are home-schooled students eligible for NJSTARS?
9. Do I have to attend Ocean County College to get NJ STARS?
10. How do I document that my home county college does not offer the program/major that I choose to study?
11. How long may I receive NJSTARS?
12. Will I need to do anything to get NJSTARS in my second year at Ocean County College?
13. Can I get NJ STARS to attend in the summer?
14. Do I have to be full time to get a NJSTARS scholarship?
15. What if I have to take remedial/developmental classes?
16. What if I enroll part-time for my first semester? Do I lose eligibility for NJSTARS?
17. What if I need to withdraw from the College?
18. Why do I have to apply for financial aid?
19. Can I get other financial aid and NJSTARS at the same time?
20. What happens if I move from one county to another?
21. What happens if I enroll in another school and then transfer to Ocean County College?
22. If I am denied NJSTARS, can I appeal the decision?
23.
How do I change my school code?
24. How can I learn more about NJ STARS?
1. What is NJ STARS?
NJSTARS is the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship program. NJSTARS rewards high achieving New Jersey high school graduates by providing scholarships to cover the cost of their tuition and approved fees for up to five (5) semesters of full time study at their home county colleges.
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2.
What is the eligibility
criteria?
In order to be eligible for the NJSTARS program at Ocean County College, you must meet Residency, Academic, Financial Aid and Admission Requirements:
Residency Requirements:
- You must be a United States citizen or an eligible resident alien
- You must be a New Jersey state resident, with twelve (12) months of continuous residency
- You must be an Ocean County resident to attend Ocean County College*
*(There are exceptions to this requirement based upon program availability)
Academic Requirements:
You must be a graduate from a New Jersey high school in the top 20% of your graduating class. This percentile is not rounded up.
Financial Aid Requirements:
- Complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is available on-line at www.fafsa.ed.gov
- File the FAFSA by June 1 if you are a returning college student. File the FAFSA by October 1 if you are a new high school graduate.
- 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 a New Jersey high school in 2005 in the top 20% of your high school class. (Your standing is not subject to rounding. Your GPA must place you at 20.0000 or above.)
- Be a New Jersey resident
- Be a citizen of the US or an eligible non-citizen
Admission Requirements:
- Complete and submit an Ocean County College Admissions Application.
- Be accepted into an Associate's degree program. (Certificate programs are not eligible for NJSTARS.)
- Enroll for 12 or more college-level credits per semester.
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3. How do I know if I am in the top 20% of my high school class?
Your high school guidance office sent a list of those students in the top 20% of your high school graduating class to the NJ Higher Education Assistance Authority (NJHESAA) in November of your senior year based on your class standing at the end of your junior year. If you are in this group, you meet the academic qualification for NJSTARS.
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4. What can I do if I am in the top 20% of my high school graduating class but I am not on the NJHESAA list of eligible students?
Request that your high school administration submit a letter on high school letterhead or complete a Self Identification Form available at your
local high school and send it to Ocean County College's Financial Aid Office. The letter must contain your class rank and the number of total graduates in your class. The College's Financial Aid Office will then submit your name to NJHESAA for inclusion in the list of NJSTARS.
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5. What does the NJ STARS scholarship cover?
NJ STARS will cover tuition and approved* fees for up to 15 credits per semester. Each semester at least 12 of these credits must be college-level (not remedial/developmental). The scholarship is awarded during fall and spring semesters only. Summer funding is not available.
* Costs directly related to enrolling in class, for example, laboratory fees
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6. Does NJ STARS cover books, supplies, or other expenses related to my enrollment?
No. NJ STARS only covers tuition and approved fees. NJ STARS does not cover the costs of books or any other enrollment related expenses.
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7. Are students who graduated from an adult regional high school in the top 20% eligible for NJSTARS?
Students who graduate from certain adult regional high schools in the top 20% may be eligible for NJ STARS. These students should contact the Financial Aid Office to find out what is needed to make the determination.
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8. Are home-schooled students eligible for NJSTARS?
No, home-schooled students are not eligible as this is a program based upon class ranking.
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9. Do I have to attend Ocean County College to get NJ STARS?
If you are a resident of Ocean County you must attend
Ocean County College to take advantage of the NJ STARS
program unless you document that OCC does not offer the program (major) that you want to study.
If you are a resident of another county and want to attend Ocean County College, you may if your home county college does not offer the program (major) that you want to study.
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10. How do I document that my home county college does not offer the program/major that I choose to study?
Request a letter from your home county college indicating that your major is not offered and submit it to the Financial Aid Office at Ocean County College. Ocean County
College will review your eligibility for NJ STARS and then be
able to charge you the in-county tuition rate and review your eligibility for NJ STARS.
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11 How long may I receive a NJSTARS scholarship?
You may receive funding for up to five
(5) semesters of continuous full time enrollment , as long as you maintain a “3.0” and meet other eligibility criteria.
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12. Will I need to do anything to get NJSTARS in my second year at Ocean County College?
YES. At the end of the first academic year, you will need to have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (“B” average) and meet all of the other criteria that were required the first year. You will also need to file a FAFSA by June 1 for the second academic year.
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13. Can I get NJ STARS to attend in the summer?
NO. The NJSTARS scholarship is available for the fall and spring semesters. You may attend Ocean County College during the summer,
but you will be responsible for paying the
tuition and fees, or qualify for other types of federal or state aid.
If you need several levels of remedial courses we encourage you to take these courses
during the summer, since the scholarship will only cover the cost of one remedial course per semester during the fall and spring semesters.
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14.
Do I have to be full time to get a NJSTARS scholarship?
YES. You must be enrolled in at least 12 college level credits. The scholarship will pay for a maximum of 15 credits.
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15. What if I have to take remedial/developmental classes?
NJSTARS students must enroll in a minimum of twelve (12) college level credits each semester. If you must take remedial/developmental classes, NJSTARS will only cover 3 credits of remediation each semester and only when taken in conjunction with the 12 college level credits. Remedial credits in excess of 3 per semester will not be covered by NJSTARS.
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16. What if I enroll part-time for my first semester? Do I lose eligibility for NJSTARS?
You are encouraged to begin enrollment as a full time student. However, if you enroll part time for your first semester to complete needed remediation, you will be eligible for a scholarship for the following four semesters as long as you meet other eligibility criteria.
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17. What if I need to withdraw from the College?
If you withdraw from OCC you will become ineligible for continued participation in the NJSTARS scholarship program. You will not be eligible to resume your scholarship at OCC or at any other college. Withdrawing from the college is defined as either officially withdrawing (by completing and submitting the required paperwork) or unofficially withdrawing (ceasing to attend your classes without completing the withdrawal process).
If you encounter academic, personal, financial, family, or other difficulties during the semester you must bear in mind that withdrawing from the college will cause you to become ineligible for the NJ STARS program for life. The exception to this is if you are on a College-approved medical or emergency leave due to the illness/emergency of the student, or a member of the student's immediate family.
Exceptions are handled as appeals, and must be accompanied by full medical documentation of the mitigating circumstance and submitted to the Financial Aid Office. (Please note, that
medical or emergency leaves, are only granted once for the life of the NJ Stars program).
You are advised to consult with one of the following staff members before you make a decision to withdraw for any reason:
Annamaria Harrison at Ext. 2028
Norma Betz at Ext. 2038.
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18. Why do I have to apply for financial aid?
a. The NJSTARS scholarship is designed to cover your tuition and fees that are not covered by other federal (for example, Pell, SEOG) and state (for example, TAG, GSS) grants and scholarships. You must file the FAFSA to determine if you are eligible for any other types of grant assistance.
b. Other federal and state grant and scholarship aid for which a student is eligible must be applied first to the cost of tuition and fees.
If you are not eligible for any other grants or scholarships, then NJ STARS will be applied. If you are eligible for federal or state grants or scholarships and it is not enough funding to cover your costs, then NJ STARS will be applied.
c. You may also wish to borrow from the Federal Stafford Loan program to supplement your NJ STARS award. The FAFSA is a prerequisite to the Stafford loan application.
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19. Can I get other financial aid and NJSTARS at the same time?
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 program to cover
the remaining tuition and fees.
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.
NJSTARS recipients can qualify for the Federal Stafford Loan programs.
NJSTAR 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.
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20. What happens if I move from one county to another?
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.
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21. What happens if I enroll in another school and then transfer to Ocean County College?
The NJSTARS program provides financial assistance to students who attend their home county college. If you enroll full time at another school then come to OCC, you will not be eligible for NJ STARS. One exception is that if you attend another college for the fall semester only, you may be allowed to get the scholarship as a OCC student in the spring semester, as long you meet other eligibility criteria. However, your maximum number of eligible semesters will be reduced by one.
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22. If I am denied NJSTARS, can I appeal the decision?
You may appeal your denial of NJSTARS to the Director of Financial Aid, who will review your application and confer with NJHESAA as needed to determine if you have been denied appropriately.
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23. How do I change my School code?
You must list the county college which serves your county of residence as the first college choice on the FAFSA. Or you can 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:
https://www.hesaa.org/SelfServ/jsp/registered
/WebAppsGateway.jsp
Please print a copy for your records.
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24. How can I learn more about NJ STARS?
For more information on NJ STARS, visit www.njstars.net or contact Annamaria Harrison at 732.255.03100525 x2028, or Aharrison@ocean.edu or contact
Mark Mehlmann at
732.255.0400 x2494
or mmehlmann@ocean.edu.
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