“Hopefully in a state budget approaching $34 billion, we can find $2.5 million to keep this program going,” Diegnan said.
Corzine’s office said the governor has heard from many legislators and constituencies seeking to reverse proposed budget cuts.
“He is willing to entertain those proposals, with the understanding that it will require trading one cut for another,” Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said. “This remains a lean budget, which means doing more with less and in some instances doing less.”
Jane Oates, executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, said the program has become a victim of its own success.
It started in 2005 with 789 students at a cost of $1.7 million, but was expanded to give full scholarships to state colleges and universities to NJ STARS students who graduate community college and has grown to 3,850 students costing $12.6 million.
“The growth is far outpacing the funding for this program,” said Michael Angulo, the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority executive director.
According to the commission, if the $100,000 limit was already imposed, 39 percent of students in the program, or 658 freshmen, would have been ineligible this school year, saving the state $2.18 million.
But John Neckonchuk, a freshman at Camden County College and a NJSTARS participant, said an income threshold wasn’t what the program intended.
“If you have three children, $100,000 isn’t going to get you very far,” he said.
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