News
HESAA - 50 Years Old and Getting Better
Trenton, NJ – The New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Established in 1959 as the Higher Education Assistance Authority, HESAA helps students and families with informational and financial resources to assist with paying for college. With the strong support of Governor Jon S. Corzine and the Legislature, New Jersey’s grant and scholarship programs, including Tuition Aid Grants and Part-time TAG for County College Students, places New Jersey among the top states in aid dollars per student. Additionally, NJSTARS and STARS II, the Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished and Urban Scholars Programs, and college savings scholarships, provide significant resources to New Jersey students.
“For 50 years, HESAA has helped students and their families afford and access higher education, and I am confident they will continue this proud tradition,” said Governor Corzine. “Sustaining New Jersey’s highly educated workforce is key to our economic recovery and future prosperity and HESAA is playing a critical role in that effort.” To date, HESAA has assisted an estimated 5 million students with approximately $18 billion in State and Federal financial aid towards realizing their dream of a college education. Through its 26 grant, scholarship, loan, and loan redemption programs, HESAA delivered financial aid to 260,000 students just this year. “It’s remarkable when you consider the sheer number of students HESAA has assisted and how important financial aid has been in their lives, “Michael Angulo, Executive Director of HESAA said.
Recognizing the State’s continuing need for healthcare professionals, this year, HESAA introduced a new program to assist medical and dental students. In light of the high costs associated with a medical or dental school education and the limited resources available to assist these students meet the costs of medical and dental school, the MedNJ program was created. “During our 50th Anniversary year, we are pleased to be able to help medical and dental students with not only paying for their education, but also with completing their training in a better financial position,” stated Director Angulo. Under the MedNJ program, these students will be able to finance up to the full cost of their education and defer payments for up to 36 months of their internship. MedNJ offers one of the lowest, fixed interest rates available for graduate medical or dental school, starting at 8.2%.
For undergraduate students, the highly regarded NJCLASS loan program remains one of the most affordable supplemental loans in the nation, offering rates starting at 7.62%, and various repayment options. For 18 years the NJCLASS program has been helping students afford the cost of college.
HESAA is proud of its outstanding record of service to New Jersey’s students and working families. Each year, HESAA distributes to hundreds of thousands of high school students a variety of informational materials. The popular Going to College in New Jersey and Life 101 magazines encourage college attendance while advising students how to pay for their education. This past year, HESAA presented at events attended by over 174,000 individuals, and provided financial literacy and default avoidance education to hundreds of young adults. Collectively, HESAA assisted over 1 million people last year with financial and informational resources.
Since 1959, HESAA, a non-profit, state designated Authority, has delivered over $18 billion in financial aid. Each year, over 1 million individuals receive assistance from outreach and aid programs administered by HESAA including the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) program, the Part-time TAG for County College Students, NJSTARS and STARS II, the Coordinated Garden State Scholarship program, the Federal Family Education Loan program, NJCLASS, and NJBEST. For additional information about HESAA please visit our web site at www.hesaa.org or call our toll-free hotline at 800-792-8670.