Assembly bill would curtail tuition-free programs

Two popular New Jersey scholarship programs that allow select students to go to community and state colleges tuition-free would be harder to qualify for and would pay for less under legislation slated to be introduced in the state Assembly tomorrow.

The proposed changes would affect the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarships programs, better known as NJSTARS and NJSTARS II. The bill contains the recommendations of a task force of legislators and education leaders convened by Gov. Corzine to revise the programs.

In his search for ways to cut state spending, Corzine proposed cutting the programs last spring by imposing income limits, but ran into opposition.

The proposed changes come at a time when some officials worry that tough economic times could draw even more students to the program.

"Certainly, the senior colleges are concerned that, in this economy, more students will avail themselves of the program," Harvey Kesselman, a dean at Richard Stockton College and a task force member.

Among the task force's goals were to limit eligibility to the programs, make them financially sustainable for the state and alleviate the economic burden they have placed on the state's four-year colleges.

"We were in a position where we had to do what was best for everyone," said Jacob Farbman, spokesman for the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, which had members on the task force.

The new legislation does not call for a income cap on the programs. Earlier, Corzine proposed a $100,000 family-income limit.

However, the Assembly bill would limit eligibility to NJSTARS, which provides free tuition to community college, to high school students graduating in the top 15 percent of their class. Currently, students have to finish in the top 20 percent of their graduating class.

In addition, NJSTARS candidates will have to take a college placement examination before entering college. If that test finds them not ready for college-level work, they have to pay for remedial classes before they can start the program.

That's a big change. Currently, about 30 percent of incoming NJSTARS require remedial courses which are paid for through their scholarship.

In addition, the bill, if passed, will require prospective NJSTARS students to complete "a rigorous high school course of study," which will be defined by the state Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education.

Critics of the program have observed that some students have avoided advanced placement courses and other demanding classes in high school to get better grades and qualify for the scholarship.

"Too many of these students were taking fluffy courses, and they weren't pushing themselves hard enough," said Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D., Camden), a cosponsor of the new bill.

In NJSTARS II, which provides free four-year school tuition to students who successfully complete their associate's degree at community college under NJSTARS, students will need higher grades to qualify and they will be responsible for part of their tuition.

Under the legislation, students would need a 3.25 grade point average to get into NJSTARS II as opposed to the current 3.0.

And the students who qualify will not be tuition-free, unless they get other aid or scholarship.

Four-year state colleges had complained that the NJSTARS II scholarship - about $4,100 - paid less than half of their tuition, costing them a lot of money and forcing them to subsidize NJSTARS students over others they might consider more needy or worthy.

Under the new proposals, students with grade point averages from 3.25 to under 3.5 would receive $3,000 per semester, split between the college and the state. Students earning averages of 3.5 or better would get $3,500 per semester. The students or their families would have to make up the difference.

Having to come up with that money "would be a very big struggle," said John Neckonchuk, 20, of Stratford, who is attending Camden County College with his twin sister, Jenna, both through NJSTARS. They hope to get into NJSTARS II. Their family income is a little over $100,000, and a third child is attending college.

Neckonchuk, who works stocking supermarket shelves and earned a 4.0 his last semester, said increasing grade requirements might be enough to limit the number of students coming into the program without having to require students to pay tuition.

"Let's face it; books aren't cheap," he said.

Two sections of the bill would open the program to some new applicants. Children whose parent or guardian has been transferred to a military installation in the state would be eligible. Also, students who earned their associate degrees while in high school in dual enrollment programs would be able to apply to NJSTARS II. Before, only NJSTARS graduates could apply. And the bill increases the number of credits NJSTARS would pay in a semester from 15 to 18.

"There is no question it is a much more meritorious program," Kesselman said.

Kesselman and Lampitt said they had no estimates on how much the changes might save the state.

NJSTARS was started in 2004 with about 930 students in an attempt to cut the flow of high school graduates out of the state. Four years later, the program has grown to about 4,800 students and a budget of more than $13 million.

An Assembly hearing on the new bill is planned for 10 a.m. tomorrow in Trenton. It will have to be reviewed by the appropriations committee and be introduced in the Senate. If passed, it is not expected to go into effect until next fall.