An Act concerning student financial aid and the 2020 public health state of emergency and supplementing various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
C.18A:71B-2.4 HESSA to exclude spring 2020 semester for lifetime eligibility of financial aid.
1. The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority shall exclude the spring 2020 semester from a student’s total lifetime eligibility limits for all State financial aid programs administered pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71B-1 et seq., if the student was unable to complete the semester due to the public health state of emergency declared to exist in New Jersey by Executive Order 103 dated March 9, 2020.
C.18A:71B-5.1 Waiver of amounts student required to return to HESAA.
2. The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority shall waive the amounts that a student is required to return under N.J.S.18A:71B-5, if the institution has already disbursed the student’s State financial aid and the student withdraws or reduces his credits to below full-time, or in the case of a part-time State tuition aid grant reduces his credits to below half-time, due to the public health state of emergency declared to exist in New Jersey by Executive Order 103 dated March 9, 2020.
C.18A:71B-85a County college students remain eligible for NJ STARS program.
3. Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, a student enrolled in a county college in the 2019-2020 academic year shall remain eligible for a scholarship under the NJ STARS Program in the third semester of county college enrollment. To remain eligible for the scholarship in the fourth and fifth semesters of county college enrollment, a student who was enrolled in the 2019-2020 academic year shall attain a grade point average of at least 3.0 by the start of the student’s fourth semester of county college enrollment.
C.18A:71B-86.4c County college student to maintain certain cumulative average for eligibility for NJ STARS II program.
4. a. Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, a student enrolled in a county college in the 2019-2020 academic year shall attain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 upon graduation from the county college to be eligible for a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program for the student’s third academic year of study.
b. Notwithstanding any law or regulation to the contrary, a student enrolled in a four-year institution of higher education in the 2019-2020 academic year shall remain eligible for a scholarship under the NJ STARS II Program in his third semester of study at a four-year institution. To remain eligible for a scholarship in the fourth semester of study, a student who was enrolled in the 2019-2020 academic year shall attain a grade point average of at least a 3.25 based on the student’s performance during the first three semesters of study at the four-year institution.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
Approved May 15, 2020.