State Budget's Dramatic Cuts-- N.J. Stars Program Eliminated For New Students Next Year

Here, from the 2011 Budget In Brief, is the bad news for New Jersey community colleges and their students:

Community Colleges
Operating support for county colleges is reduced by $14.3 million. This level will support the amounts required to maintain New Jersey’s eligibility for federal stimulus funding for higher education. Community colleges will continue to receive funds from the Supplemental Workforce Fund for Basic Skills to offset the cost of remedial courses provided by the institutions.

Tuition Assistance
State assistance is provided to college students through a myriad of aid and scholarship programs. The
largest of these, the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) program, is a need-based entitlement program that supports
tuition costs for needy New Jersey students who attend New Jersey colleges and universities. For fiscal 2011, anticipated growth in the program will not be funded. Similarly, the Proposed Budget does not fund anticipated growth in the Part-Time Tuition Aid Grant program. In addition, the TAG awards for first-time recipients at Independent Institutions will be reduced to the comparable State college award level.  A slight reduction of 8.7% is proposed for the Educational Opportunity Fund. An allocation of $37.6 million will
remain available to provide higher education opportunities to students who come from low-income families in
economically distressed areas of the state.

NJ STARS I and NJ STARS II are merit-based scholarships that are awarded to high achieving students who attend a New Jersey county college and then continue at a four-year New Jersey college or university. For fiscal 2011, no incoming freshman will be accepted into the NJ STARS I program. No current STARS
scholarships will be affected by the funding reduction.

To see the complete Budget In Brief:  http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/omb/publications/11bib/BIB.pdf