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County Pleads With Governor To Leave Scholarship Program Alone
By Bill McLaughlin
Good students should continue to be rewarded.
That's the message the Ocean County Freeholders want to get across to Governor Jon Corzine, after petitioning the state to keep an educational funding program intact that rewards students in the top 20 percent of their high school graduating classes.
The program, known as STARS (State Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship), might be capped due to proposed cuts in the 2008 state budget.
According to the program's guidelines, qualifying students could get free tuition to Ocean County College or any similar two-year public school in New Jersey. To qualify, students must carry at least a 12-credit course load each semester, and maintain a 3.0 grade point average, or higher.
Although exactly how those caps would apply - or whether the qualifications would be made more stringent - is unclear. However, educators like Dr. Bruce Greenfield, the county superintendent of schools, decried any change or dilution of what he called, "a very successful program."
"(STARS) is a scholarship program for outstanding students," Greenfield said. "Ocean County is number one in the state for putting students through college with this aid."
If they want to go on to a fouryear school, a second program called STARS II, provides students $4,000 per year tuition aid at any of the state's four-year colleges. The college would pick up the rest of the student costs.
The requirements get more stringent, however, since a 3.5 GPA is required to stay in the program.
"This program keeps our young talent in the state of New Jersey," said Freeholder Director Joseph Vicari. "When the program started, there were no caps in place."
Vicari said it was unfair to change the rules long after they were established, and misguided to take away the only chance some less fortunate students, or those from a lower socioeconomic background, would have to go to college.
Due to a widening gap in the current budget, Corzine has indicated that cutbacks might have to be made. However, a cap in the number of students allowed in STARS would be a devastating blow to many students, the freeholders agreed.
Like Vicari, Freeholder John Bartlett is a life-long educator, and does not want to see the program cut back.
"Education is the best way to ensure self-sufficiency and career success," said Bartlett. "The state needs to continue this commitment to these students who have met the educational requirements of this program."
On a personal side note, Bartlett said he too was able to defray the costs of college by spending two years at Ocean County College, before eventually moving on to his bachelor's degree at a fouryear school.
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