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Information and Guidelines

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• Students must apply for all other available forms of state and federal financial aid (exclusive of loans and private funding) by completing a FAFSA- http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

• NJ STARS shall not exceed the cost of attendance at an institution when combined with all other forms of financial aid.

• Students must have graduated in the top 15% of their graduating class, completed a rigorous course of study and required SAT or placement test scores.(Note: Rigorous high school course of study waived for June 2009 high school graduates.)

• Participants in the program must have graduated from high school after 2006 and not earlier than two calendar years before scholarship payments commence.

• Consecutive full-time enrollment in a minimum of 12 degree-seeking credits is required once awarded.

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

• Please be aware that a 3.0 GPA is required in order to maintain eligibility for NJ STARS while attending the community college. However, in order to be eligible for NJ STARS II, the student must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 upon graduation from the community college.

• Students whose cumulative grade point average drops below a 3.0 will be required to enroll in an Enrichment Program course entitled ACAD 155 "Student Success" at Ocean County College. At the completion of the following semester, the student’s cumulative grade point average must be 3.0 or above.

• Students who graduate from high school and still need remediation will be given up to one year from September 1 following high school graduation- at their own cost or using other non-STARS funds- to gain the skills they need to be college ready. They will not be considered NJ STARS scholars until they meet this requirement. However, they will still have five semesters of funding eligibility upon meeting the requirements.

Link to NJ STARS Home Page