Signed by Governor Phil Murphy

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes the Community College Opportunity Grant Program to provide last-dollar financial aid grants to county college students.

Highlights:

• Establishes the Community College Opportunity Grant Program to provide financial aid grants to eligible county college students to cover costs of tuition and approved educational fees not covered by any other sources (Sec. 2).

• Requires the financial aid grants to be administered by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and the Student Success Incentive funding to be administered by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (Sec 2).

• Requires students to meet the following criteria to be eligible for a financial aid grant under the Community College Opportunity Grant Program (Sec. 3):

• The student must be a legal resident of the state or be eligible for financial aid;

• The student must be enrolled in at least 6 credits at a county college;

• The student must be enrolled at the county college associated with the student’s residence;

• The student must not have an annual negative adjusted gross income;

• The student must have an annual adjusted gross income between $0 and $65,000;

• The student must have applied for all other available forms of need-based aid;

• The student must not owe a refund on a previously awarded grant or scholarship from a state or federal program; and

• The student must be in good academic standing and meet the minimum standards for academic performance and satisfactory academic progress under the county college standards.

• Specifies that grant renewal is applicable for students who (Sec. 3):

• Annually submits a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or another financial aid form;

• Meets the standards for academic performance and progress as defined by the county college; and

• Maintains all eligibility requirements.

• Specifies that a student is eligible for a grant under the program for up to 5 years (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes an appeal to be made if the student’s family or a county college deems the authority made an unfair determination of eligibility (Sec. 3).

• Requires the college to notify the student of eligibility and the amount being awarded (Sec. 3).

• Requires a grant distributed to an eligible student to cover the remaining cost of tuition and approved educational fees, which is not covered by state, federal, or any other need-based grant or merit scholarship, for up to 18 credits in any semester (Sec. 4).

• Requires the authority of each county college to annually establish a maximum individual grant amount to be awarded (Sec. 4).

• Requires the legislature to annually appropriate to the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education such funds as may be necessary for Student Success Incentive funding to provide capacity-building grants to each county college to support the goals of the Community College Opportunity Grant Program (Sec. 5).

Full Bill Text