NJ STARS scholarship program may lose a bit of its luster

New Jersey lawmakers are considering some changes in the NJ STARS scholarship program.

Proposed revisions call for the program to continue paying the tuition for some of the state’s brightest students to attend community college. But the program would no longer cover any additional fees.

Scholarships to attend four year schools would be limited to $2,000 a year instead of the current $7,000 maximum based on students’ grades. The changes are aimed at saving the program and giving students enough time to plan, Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt said.

“We’re trying to do this in front of the budget process because college students are making their decisions in basically May, June, and they can’t make their decisions on the timing of our fiscal calendar,” she said last week. The Assembly’s higher education committee has advanced the legislation. It’s still awaiting action in the Senate and it’s unclear whether Gov. Chris Christie would sign it. The N.J. Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship program provides tuition assitance for N.J. residents who attend the state’s community colleges.

Students who graduate in the top 15 percent of their high school class may be eligible.