Q & A HESAA

“Grandfathered” students are those participating in the NJ STARS Program as of December 2008. These students remain eligible for NJ STARS program benefits in accordance with the original NJ STARS statute in effect prior to December 19, 2008. Highlights of NJ STARS benefits available to “grandfathered” NJ STARS students include:

Tuition and approved fees covered for up to fifteen credits per term after applying other Federal/State aid
Up to three remedial/developmental credits may be taken each semester in conjunction with a minimum of twelve college-level credits
Awards for up to five semesters, excluding summer session

It should be noted that students participating in the NJ STARS Program who qualify for the NJ STARS II Program will not receive “grandfathered” benefits under the NJ STARS II Program. Rather, they will receive NJ STARS II benefits in accordance with the amended statute.

2. NJ STARS-Eligible Students who Postponed College Attendance

Answer: Students who graduated from high school in the top 20% of their class prior to June 2009 and postponed college attendance retain potential NJ STARS eligibility if they enroll full-time in an associate degree program at their home county college by the fifth semester immediately following high school graduation.

These students are not affected by amended eligibility requirements, such as the requirement to demonstrate college readiness. However, they will receive program benefits in accordance with the amended statute. For example, while the NJ STARS Program will cover tuition and approved fees for up to 18 credits for these students, it will not cover the cost of any required remedial/developmental courses.

3. State Residency

Answer: Potential NJ STARS students must meet all residency requirements at the time of high school graduation and upon county college enrollment. This means that a student and his/her parents must have been legal New Jersey residents for at least twelve consecutive months prior to high school graduation and at the time of county college enrollment. Eligible non-citizens granted permanent resident status or those permitted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to enter the United States for other than temporary reasons must have resided in New Jersey for at least twelve consecutive months after their status was determined to meet the residency requirement both at the time of high school graduation and for twelve months prior to county college enrollment.

4. Dependent Children of Military Parents

Answer: Yes. A dependent child of a parent who has been transferred to a military installation located in New Jersey is considered a New Jersey resident for the purposes of qualifying for an NJ STARS award.

5. Determining Rank in Top 15.0% for Small Classes

Answer: Potential NJ STARS eligibility for small graduating classes is shown below.

Class size of 1 – not eligible

Class size of 2 – 6 - #1 student is potentially NJ STARS-eligible

Class size of 7 or greater – top 15.0% of students are potentially NJ STARS-eligible.

6. Rigorous High School Course of Study

6.a. Answer.: By statute, these standards are established by the Commission on Higher Education in consultation with the Commissioner of Education. As soon as these standards have been determined, they will be shared with the financial aid community.

As announced by HESAA on April 23, 2009, New Jersey Higher Education in consultation with the Commissioner of Education determined that the rigorous high school course of study requirement would not apply to June 2009 high school graduates.

6.b. Answer: Yes. When these standards are implemented for NJ STARS students, county colleges will be required to review the final high school transcript to determine compliance prior to awarding NJ STARS funds.

7. Initial Determination of College Readiness

7a. Answer: Pursuant to statute, students must demonstrate college readiness bytaking the college placement test selected by the New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC). The NJCCC has designated the Accuplacer as the test to determine college readiness. Alternatively, students who attain a score of 540 or higher on the critical reading component of the SAT and 530 or higher on the math component of the SAT (or the equivalent ACT scores) are considered to have demonstrated college readiness in these subject areas.

7.b. Answer: No, there are not.

7.c. Answer: Pursuant to statute, the test must be administered by the county college in the county in which the student’s school district is located at no cost to the student or the school district. A county college may enter into an agreement with the school district to administer the test at the high school or other selected site within the district.

A county college is responsible for notifying any student who does not achieve the required scores on the Accuplacer that s/he requires remediation prior to pursuing county college coursework for credit under the NJ STARS Program. It is the student’s responsibility to address the identified deficiencies in the manner in which s/he determines no later than September 1 of the year following high school graduation.

7.d. Answer: A student has one year from September 1 following high school graduation to address the deficiency(ies) identified and demonstrate college readiness through such means as s/he determines, including successfully completing the required remedial/developmental coursework at the college of his/her choice. The New Jersey Council of County Colleges is currently exploring the circumstances under which students may be permitted to retake the Accuplacer. As soon as this issue is resolved, you will be notified.

7.e. Answer: As noted above in question 7d, the academic deficiency(ies) identified by the Accuplacer can be addressed by successfully completing the required remedial/developmental course(s).

7.f. Answer: No. Pursuant to statute, students must demonstrate college readiness no later than September 1 of the year following high school graduation. If the student has not demonstrated college readiness at the end of the one-year period, s/he loses NJ STARS eligibility.

7.g. Answer: Yes. By statute, “. . . if during or at the end of the one-year period the student demonstrates the required ability, then the student shall be eligible for an NJ STARS scholarship for five semesters.”

However, a student must enroll full-time in an associate degree program at his/her home county college no later than the fifth semester following high school graduation to retain NJ STARS eligibility.

As a reminder, NJ STARS eligibility is “activated” during the semester in which the student enrolls full time for at least twelve college-level credits. The student must maintain continuous full-time enrollment in all subsequent semesters to retain NJ STARS eligibility.

7.h. Answer: No. The student could take the required remedial/developmental course(s) during the summer or during the fall or spring semester at his/her expense (or paid out of non-NJ STARS funds). If taken during the fall or spring semester, the student must also enroll for at least twelve college-level credits to retain NJ STARS eligibility.

8. Remedial/Developmental Coursework

Answer: Yes, provided s/he is taking at least twelve college-level credits in addition to the remedial/developmental credits. As a reminder, the NJ STARS award covers tuition and approved fees for up to fifteen credits for students who began program participation in fall 2008 or earlier.

9. Maximum Number of Credits Covered by NJ STARS

9.a. Answer: During the spring 2009 semester, the NJ STARS Program covered tuition and approved fees for up to 15 credits, which could have included up to three remedial/developmental credits in addition to twelve college-level credits.

Effective the fall 2009 semester, students who began program participation during the spring 2009 semester will transition to NJ STARS benefits provided under the amended statute. Accordingly, NJ STARS will cover tuition and approved fees for up to 18 college-level credits each semester. However, NJ STARS will no longer pay for remedial/developmental coursework. If an NJ STARS student requires additional remedial/developmental coursework, it may be taken at the student’s expense or paid out of non-NJ STARS funds. Students must take a minimum of twelve college-level credits each semester to retain NJ STARS eligibility.

9.b. Answer: The NJ STARS Program will cover tuition and approved fees for up to 18 college-level credits. Students must demonstrate college readiness before beginning NJ STARS Program participation. Accordingly, NJ STARS no longer pays for remedial/developmental course(s).

10. One Semester Pass

Answer: The “one semester pass” concept does not apply to students who begin program participation in fall 2009 and subsequent semesters. Under the amended statute, NJ STARS students have a specific time frame to begin program participation. Students who demonstrate college readiness by September 1 of the year following high school graduation must enroll full-time at a county college no later than the fifth semester following high school graduation.

11. Summer NJ STARS Payments

11.a. Answer: NJ STARS summer payments will begin in the summer of 2010 for students who began full-time enrollment in spring 2009 and subsequent semesters.

11.b. Answer: Summer sessions are combined into one semester for the purposes of the NJ STARS Program. Therefore, an NJ STARS student who enrolls for at least 12 college-level credits during the summer may be eligible to receive payment. The NJ STARS award may be credited/disbursed in the session in which the student meets full-time enrollment requirements (minimum 12 college-level credits).

11.c. Answer: No. NJ STARS students may choose to accelerate attainment of an associate degree by enrolling full-time during the summer term. Students who enroll for twelve or more college-level credits during the summer will use one of their five semesters of NJ STARS eligibility.

While summer enrollment is optional, grades for all college-level courses taken during the summer are included in a student’s cumulative GPA. To retain NJ STARS eligibility, students must attain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher prior to the start of the 3rd semester of county college enrollment, whether or not they attend summer sessions. It should be noted that a student who begins enrollment during the fall semester must attain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher at the end of the spring semester to attend full-time during the summer as an NJ STARS student.

12. Continuous Full-Time Enrollment

Answer: Yes. If a student drops below full-time status after his/her enrollment is certified on the NJ STARS roster, s/he retains program eligibility for the subsequent semester. The semester in which s/he dropped below full-time status after the roster was certified counts as one of the five semesters of NJ STARS eligibility.

Students who do not receive an NJ STARS payment in the semester of county college graduation are not eligible for consideration under the NJ STARS II Program unless they are enrolled in a nursing or engineering program that regularly requires six semesters to complete.

13. Joint Associate Degree Programs

Answer: To receive NJ STARS funds, students must be enrolled full-time in an associate degree program at their home county college and must be paying tuition directly to that county college. In the situation above, the student would not be eligible to receive NJ STARS funding, as s/he is not enrolled full-time at the county college and is not paying tuition directly to the county college.

However, a county college may enter into a consortium agreement with another New Jersey institution. Under such an agreement, students may take courses at a New Jersey institution other than the county college and have those courses count toward the degree or certificate at the county college. For State grant purposes, the consortium agreement must meet Federal Student Aid (FSA) standards and comply with State requirements. Specifically, FSA requires the following information be included in all agreements:

the institution that will grant the degree or certificate;
the student’s tuition, fees, and room and board costs at each institution;
the student’s enrollment status at each institution;
the institution that will be responsible for disbursing aid and monitoring student eligibility; and
the procedures for calculating awards, disbursing aid, monitoring satisfactory progress and other student eligibility requirements, keeping records, and returning funds in the event the student withdraws

HESAA requires the county college, as the home institution, to:

calculate the NJ STARS award;*
disburse aid;
monitor satisfactory academic progress and other student eligibility requirements;
keep records;
return any funds due HESAA;
certify the student is enrolled full-time; and
pay the host institution directly for charges incurred by NJ STARS students.

*If the tuition and fees charged by the host institution exceed those charged at the county college, the charges reported on the NJ STARS roster must be calculated as if all credits were taken at the county college. As a reminder, up to 15 credits are covered for NJ STARS who began program participation in fall 2008 and prior semesters, while up to 18 credits are covered for all other NJ STARS. Any balance due the host institution that is not covered by the NJ STARS award must be paid by the student or out of other aid.

**For more information on NJ STARS, please visit www.HESAA.org or contact Annamaria Harrison at 732-255-0400 ext. 2028, or aharrison@ocean.edu or Megan Springsted ext. 2939 or mspringstead@ocean.edu.**

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