Bill Text: NJ A1895 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Broadens eligibility of NJ STARS Program by permitting later entry into program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A1895 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1895-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Broadens eligibility of NJ STARS Program by permitting later entry into program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning eligibility for the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) Program and amending P.L.2008, c.124.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.2008, c.124 (C.18A:71B-85.1) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. Upon notice from the authority in a student's senior year of high school of conditional eligibility for the NJ STARS Program, a student who determines to pursue final eligibility for the program shall take a college placement test to determine readiness for college-level coursework. The test shall be selected by the New Jersey Council of County Colleges and administered by the county college of 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.
b. A county college shall notify any student who does not achieve the required score on the placement test that the student requires remediation prior to pursuing county college coursework for credit under the NJ STARS Program. The student shall have the responsibility to address the identified deficiencies through such means as the student determines, including enrollment in remedial classes at the county college during the senior year of high school.
c. Upon graduation from high school, if a student meets the eligibility criteria for receipt of an NJ STARS scholarship but is not able to demonstrate the skill levels required to pursue courses for credit at a county college, the student shall not receive an NJ STARS scholarship until that ability is demonstrated. [The student shall have one year from the September 1 next following the date of high school graduation to demonstrate such ability, and if at the end of the one-year period the student continues to require remediation, then the student shall lose eligibility for the NJ STARS Program. 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]
d. A student's eligibility for the program, once established, shall not expire provided that the student meets the criteria established pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2004, c.59 (C.18A:71B-85) at the time of program participation.
(cf: P.L.2008, c.124, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill broadens eligibility of NJ STARS Program by permitting later entry into the program than is currently allowed.
Current law provides that if a student meets the eligibility criteria for receipt of a NJ STARS scholarship but is not able to demonstrate the skill levels required to pursue courses for credit at a county college, the student will have one year to attain and demonstrate college readiness, or the student will lose eligibility for the NJ STARS scholarship. This bill removes this time limit. Additionally, N.J.A.C.9A:9-10.4 requires an eligible student to enroll in a full-time course of study at a New Jersey county college by the fifth semester after high school graduation. This bill provides that a student's eligibility for the program, once established, will not expire provided that the student meets the program's eligibility criteria at the time of program participation.
