Senate
panel OKs tuition payment plan
B-student bonanza expansion
planned. N.J. looks to pay schooling costs for residents
with 3.0 GPA.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 • By Terrence dopp •
The Express-Times
TRENTON | The Senate Budget Committee on
Monday passed a bill allowing high-achieving New Jersey
students to earn bachelor's degrees at state colleges and
universities free of charge.
Sponsors called it phase two of the New
Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Rewards Scholarship, or NJ
STARS, which allows top-ranking high school students to earn
associate's degrees from the state's 19 two-year community
colleges at no cost.
Under the proposed program, dubbed NJ
STARS II, all NJ STARS students with a minimum 3.0 GPA could
complete their bachelor's degree at any state
institution.
Sponsors called it a way to ensure the
needy have access to higher education.
"We're talking about young people who've
already shown they can go through two years and keep a B
average," said sponsor Sen. Wayne Bryant, D- Lawnside,
chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
The bill is now eligible for a vote in
the full chamber; none was scheduled Monday.
Currently, about 2,483 people statewide
attend community college tuition free under the NJ STARS
program.
Under the new proposal, the state would
pay the colleges $4,000 annually per student while the
schools would pick up any remaining costs. Bryant said the
money would come out of the general fund.
Donald Farish, president of Rowan
University in Glassboro, said his school has already set
aside $100,000 to match state tuition payments and is
looking to line up corporate donations to help defray the
school's cost, which is roughly $4,610 per
student.
"Community colleges have done a
magnificent job of pulling off the STARS I program," Farish
said. "Now the burden is on us."
Bryant said he wants to see the bill
passed in both houses of the Legislature before the current
session expires in late January. He said swift passage would
help many students now finishing college applications for
next fall.
"They need to know and some of it has to
do with finances. They can't afford to go off to Rutgers.
They can't afford to go off to Rowan," Bryant said. "We need
to do this."
Acting Gov. Richard Codey is scheduled to
sponsor the bill along with Bryant. Assembly Speaker Albio
Sires is slated to sponsor the bill in the lower
house.
"As sponsor of the bill, Gov. Codey is
obviously a big supporter," spokesman Sean Darcy
said.
Codey, as both acting governor and Senate
president, will decide when it gets posted for a full Senate
vote and will also be able to sign it into law until
mid-January.
The original NJ STARS legislation was put
into effect in 2004, with the aim of providing a low-cost
way for New Jersey residents to attend college and was then
expanded to encompass any students with a 3.0 GPA in
community college.
All credits earned at the two-year
institutions are transferred into any state college or
university.
Terrence Dopp is Trenton correspondent for The
Express-Times.
He can be reached at 609-292-5154 or by e-mail at
tdopp@sjnewsco.com.
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