New Rutgers-Newark initiative offers free tuition, housing to some NJ students

A new tuition initiative announced by Rutgers-Newark will provide financial assistance to Newark residents and students transferring to the university from county colleges.

The new financial aid initiative called the Talent & Opportunity Pathways program—or RU-N to the TOP—which will make college more affordable for wide swaths of New Jersey students, especially residents of Newark, those transferring from county colleges, and those with great potential to make an impact on the world.

According to a press release on the university's website, in order to be offered a scholarship covering 100 percent of undergraduate tuition and fees, students must be Newark residents with whose household adjusted gross income is $60,000 or less. In addition, students who are admitted to the RU-N's Honors Living-Learning Community will also have their room and board covered 100 percent.

According to the university, students who transfer from NJ county colleges into the RU-N program after earning an associate's degree Admitted students who are transferring to RU-N after earning an associate’s degree are also eligible for full scholarship's covering tuition and fees provided they have a household income of $60,000 or less.

Currently, students from low-income families are already eligible for state and federal grants. The university then picks up the tab for the remaining tuition costs and fees, which total about $13,600 at the Newark campus.

Newark (RU-N) Chancellor Nancy Cantor said the RU-N to the TOP initiative is "firmly planting a stake in the ground for college affordability for Newarkers and New Jerseyans.”

“We are saying to the young people of the city of Newark and our great state: We see your talent. We honor your talent. We want you to learn with us—and we want to learn from you—and together with our communities of experts across Newark, the state, the nation, and the world, we are going to make a difference," Cantor said. “Our city, state, and nation need to increase educational attainment to both strengthen our democracy and compete in today’s global economy. As an anchor institution in Newark, we’re saying that the best way to get there is by investing in the people of Newark and our state.”

Toniann Antonelli is the digital managing editor at NJ 101.5. Reach her at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.