What should I expect after learning about the NJ STARS program?
Notification to Prospective NJ STARS Students
Your high school should have notified you of your eligibility at the end of your junior year if you were in the top 15% of your class.
In February each year, HESAA mails a letter to all graduating high school students whose high schools identified them to HESAA as prospective NJ STARS students at the end of their junior year. Students who receive a letter will still be eligible to apply to the NJ STARS program at Bergen Community College up to five semesters after high school graduation, even if they attended another college.
Once Bergen Community College receives the list from HESAA, a letter will be sent to all qualifying students in Bergen County with information about the NJ STARS program, usually by mid-March.
*If you did not receive a letter from HESAA or Bergen Community College by the end of March, please see below.
Students who did not receive correspondence from HESAA or Bergen Community College
If you did not receive a letter from HESAA, you will not receive a letter from Bergen Community College since you may not have ranked in the top 15% of your class at the end of your junior year. If you did not qualify at the end of your junior year, please check with your high school guidance office since you can still qualify if you rank in the top 15% of your class at the end of your senior year.
Students whose names are not on the HESAA list of qualifying junior high school students but should have been, and students who qualify at the end of their senior year are potentially eligible for the NJ STARS Program. However, these students will need to provide proof of their class rank and class size either on an official, final signed and sealed transcript or on the Certification of HS Class Rank Form for Prospective NJ STARS Students from their high school which must contain the school seal.
Qualified out-of-county students should receive a letter from HESAA but would receive correspondence from their home county college.
Placement Tests are No Longer Required
On June 21, 2021, the full New Jersey Council of County Colleges unanimously approved a resolution that changes the test used for final NJ STARS eligibility, designating “a student’s high school academic ranking as the test of a student’s final eligibility for NJ STARS.”
Accordingly, prospective NJ STARS students no longer have to take placement tests but they must be waived from taking the tests before registering for their courses. Students who still wish to take the placement tests may do so. If a student takes the tests and requires a remedial course or courses, they can either choose to be waived, or they can take the remedial course or courses if necessary, but they must still register for 12 or more college-level credits. Please note: NJ STARS will only pay for college-level courses.
First Steps
To ensure that you meet all of the eligibility requirements, please visit the HESAA website and check the NJ STARS Fact Sheet for the year you graduated high school. Qualified students are eligible for five semesters after high school graduation, even if they attended another college/university.
Next, download the Self-Identification Form for Prospective NJ STARS Students and save it to your computer. Then complete the form, save it again, and email it to [email protected]. Once your self-identification form is received, if you have applied to the college, you will be identified as a prospective NJ STARS student in your college record. After verifying your NJ STARS program eligibility, you will be waived from taking placement tests. If you have not applied to the college when you self-identify, please email [email protected] after you apply so these tasks can be completed.
Sometime in July for Fall semesters, (December for Spring semesters), temporarily protection will be added to prospective students’ records as long as they have self-identified as prospective NJ STARS students so they will not have to pay their tuition and their courses will not be dropped for non-payment. Protection of courses for students will be extended to later in the semester as long as all steps are completed and the NJ STARS Application/Contract is signed and submitted before the first day of the semester. Students signing their NJ STARS Application/Contract after their first semester will have to pay their tuition and wait for reimbursement from the State of New Jersey.
Please visit the How to Apply to the NJ STARS Program webpage to begin the NJ STARS certification process. The steps outlined above are also the first steps on the webpage.
Students and their parents can view the videos that are on the FAQs webpage.