Bill > S808

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the Outstanding Scholars Recruitment Program, originally initiated in the FY 1997 annual appropriations act, as part of the permanent statutory law. The program was eliminated from the annual appropriations act in FY 2010. The Outstanding Scholars Recruitment Program will provide public and independent institutions of higher education with campus-based funding to finance scholarships as a mechanism to recruit high achieving New Jersey students as measured by class rank and SAT scores. The program's State funding, which is matched by institutional funds, will serve as a retention mechanism for New Jersey's brightest students. Under the program the State will pay up to 70 percent of the scholarship at a public institution and up to 40 percent at an independent institution, with the institution financing the balance of the scholarship award. The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority will provide campus-based funding to a participating institution in accordance with a contract entered into between the authority and the institution. Under the bill's provisions, a student with an SAT score above 1,500 and a class rank in the top 5 percent of the student's high school graduating class will receive an annual scholarship of up to a maximum of $7,500. The scholarship amount would decrease to $2,500 for a student with an SAT score between 1,350 and 1,390 and a class rank between the 85th and 89th percentiles. The institution will select the individual scholarship recipients. To be eligible for a scholarship under the program, a student is required to be a State resident, apply for all other available forms of State and federal financial aid, exclusive of loans, and enroll in a full-time course of study at an institution of higher education, not including any credit hours in a remedial or developmental curriculum. Under the bill, a recipient of the scholarship is required to maintain a 3.0 grade point average, and continuous enrollment in a full-time course of study at an institution of higher education in order to receive a renewal scholarship, except in the case of a physical or mental health condition, family emergency, or deployment to active duty. Eligibility for the program will be limited to a total of four years or eight semesters, unless the student is enrolled in an approved five year program or provides evidence that a student's physical or mental health evaluation or the recent death of a student's parent or spouse requires the student to enroll in less than 12 credits.

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Sandra Cunningham (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee (on 01/14/2020)