New Jersey S.T.A.R.S.
STARS Students are Eligible for FREE Tuition
The New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) Program provides Atlantic and Cape May County students who achieve high academic success in high school by ranking in the top 15% of their class at the end of their junior or senior years with free tuition to Atlantic Cape Community College!
NJ STARS covers the cost of tuition for eligible students for a maximum of five semesters and up to 18 credits per semester.
Find out if you are eligible to be a NJ STAR
- Students must provide documentation that they are/were in the top 15.0% of their high school class at the end of either junior or senior year of high school.
- Students must provide a final High School transcript in order to confirm the year of high school graduation and that a diploma was received.
- Students must apply for all other federal and state financial aid available to them by filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and completing their file with HESAA (Higher Education Student Assistance Authority) annually within New Jersey's deadline.
- Students and their parent(s)/legal guardian must be permanent New Jersey residents pursuant to regulations established by the state at the time of high school graduation and upon college enrollment.
- Students must also be citizens, eligible non-citizens, or eligible to file the New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application and must be legal New Jersey residents for a minimum of twelve consecutive months prior to high school graduation.
- Students must demonstrate college readiness per the New Jersey Council of Community Colleges requirements and Atlantic Cape's degree requirements. NJ STARS does not cover the cost of remedial coursework
- Students must enroll full-time in a degree program at my home county college.
What to know about NJ STARS
Students who meet the top 15 percent requirement must first apply for all other federal and state financial aid available to them by filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and complete their file with HESAA (Higher Education Student Assistance Authority) annually within New Jersey's deadline. If a student receives financial aid, NJ STARS will cover the remaining cost of tuition. If a student is not eligible for financial aid, NJ STARS will cover the entire tuition.
- Students must take at least 12 college credits per semester and will be allowed to take up to 18 credits each semester if they are able to handle the course load and wish to accelerate their graduation.
- Students will be permitted to take fewer than 12 credits in their final semester if they need fewer than 12 credits to graduate.
- Students will be permitted to use summer sessions to maintain a 3.0 GPA at a community college and will be responsible for the tuition and fees.
- NJ STARS students must have a 3.0 or better grade point average moving from freshmen to sophomore years in college to be eligible for scholarship renewal for the second year.
- Students have five (5) semesters of eligibility for NJ STARS.
- Students majoring in areas that require an additional 6th semester (for example: nursing and engineering) -- the student is responsible for paying for the additional semester and will still be eligible for STARS II.
- Dependent students of military families assigned to a military base and whose parents have established New Jersey as their state of residence will be eligible for NJ STARS as long as all other conditions are met.
Additional NJ STARS Information
Contact Us
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact Atlantic Cape’s NJ STARS Representative, Carol Fraone, at cfraone@atlanticcape.edu or call (609) 343-5009 or (609) 343-5000.