Take a Stand for NJ STARS

Gloucester County Times
Editorial
April 21, 2010

It was good to hear Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, D-4, speak up Monday for graduating high school seniors held in limbo by pending cuts to NJ STARS, the popular program that lets top students attend community colleges tuition-free.

NJ STARS, which stands for Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship, needs a stable, long-term source of funding if it is to continue much longer, given New Jersey's financial condition. But Gov. Chris Christie's proposed state budget eliminates all funding for the next class of STARS candidates, who are slated to enter Gloucester County College and similar institutions this fall.

"The governor pulling the plug on NJ STARS after students have already been accepted is cruel, outrageous and unwarranted," the assemblyman said.

It may not constitute cruelty, but it's awfully unfair. It's getting too late for these accepted students to make other higher-education arrangements, or to come up with tuition funds that they did not expect to have to pay.

Moriarty's comments came on the heels of Assembly Budget Committee remarks from Glassboro High School senior Joe Zuchowicz. The assemblyman asked the STARS recipient to testify about his plight, and that of an estimated 300 students in Gloucester County slated to begin STARS-funded college this fall.

By "grandfathering" such students, Zuchowicz said, "You would be honoring the original commitment to higher learning, and by giving advance notice, (of any cuts to STARS classes in 2011 and later) future students will be well informed and can take the steps necessary to prepare for college applications and visitations."

Zuchowicz thinks he may be OK, because, with his father and his guidance counselor, he's been researching "a backup plan" including other scholarships. But not everyone has the chance to make other college arrangements before September.

Do we really want to show our next generation that the world (maybe it really is cruel) works like this?

Lawmakers and the governor should know that a last-minute restoration of STARS funding at the June 30 budget deadline is too late to help these students. The Legislature and Christie need to commit, right now, to fund the 2010 class somehow, and let these students get on with their lives and their education.