Governor Phil Murphy launched the Community College Opportunity Grant (“CCOG”) program on Thursday, September 27, 2018.
New Jersey’s fiscal year 2019 budget appropriates $25 million to fund the first phase of the CCOG program. For the Spring semester of 2019, the CCOG program will be piloted at 13 county colleges across New Jersey (“pilot colleges”), which were selected through a competitive process during the summer of 2018. The pilot colleges are: Atlantic Cape Community College; Bergen Community College; Camden County College;Cumberland County College; Hudson County Community College; Mercer County Community College; Middlesex County College; Ocean County College; Passaic County Community College; Rowan College at Gloucester County; Salem Community College; Union County College; and Warren County Community College.
The New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) will provide CCOG grants to students enrolled in at least six (6) credits at pilot colleges during the Spring semester of 2019. These CCOG awards will pay the costs of tuition and approved educational fees that are not already covered by other available grant funds applied to the student’s account. During this initial pilot phase of the program, CCOG awards are limited to students whose adjusted gross income is between $0 and $45,000.
For more details on student eligibility and program rules, please see the Policy and Procedures for the Spring 2019 pilot of the CCOG program.
Students who are enrolled in one of the pilot county colleges should visit NJFAMS to access their student account and review their To Do List..
Current students who have already completed a financial aid application for the Fall 2018 semester will be automatically considered for CCOG eligibility if they enroll at one of the 13 pilot colleges for at least six credits in the Spring 2019 semester. Students at one of these pilot county colleges who have not yet filed for financial aid for academic year 2018-2019 will have until February 15, 2019 to apply for CCOG awards by completing the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid and the supplemental New Jersey state questions (https://fafsa.ed.gov/), or by completing the NJ Alternative Financial Aid Application for New Jersey Dreamers (https://www.hesaa.org/Pages/NJAlternativeApplication.aspx).
