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A large number of post-secondary education options are available in the State of New Jersey. Currently, 31 four-year colleges and universities are located in New Jersey. In addition, there are nineteen county colleges offering two-year programs, serving the 21 counties in the state.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Colonial colleges 2 State scholarship programs 2.1 Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar 2.2 NJ STARS 3 Colleges and universities 3.1 Four-year institutions 3.2 County colleges 4 See also 5 Notes and References 6 External links

Main articles: Colonial colleges, Rutgers University, Princeton University, and History of Rutgers University

Among the original thirteen American colonies, New Jersey is unique in that it was the only colony in which two colleges were established before the Declaration of Independence was promulgated in 1776. Of the nine colonial colleges, New Jersey possessed The College of New Jersey, now called Princeton University, founded in 1746 and Queen's College, now known as Rutgers University (or officially as Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey), founded in 1766.

Princeton was established by the New Light Presbyterians.

Rutgers was established by clergy affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church.

In order to provide post-secondary education to a greater number of New Jersey students and to keep some of New Jersey's highest achieving high school students in the Garden State for their college years, the state of New Jersey has established several scholarship opportunities for students. Such programs fall under the purview of the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (NJHESSA). These programs include memorial scholarships such as the Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Scholarship (for children of New Jersey law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty)^[1] and World Trade Center Scholarship Fund (for children of September 11th attack victims).^[2] The NJHESAA also coordinates the Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar program and the NJ STARS award program.

Main article: Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar

Every year NJHESAA coordinates the Edward J. Bloustein Distiguished Scholar program. This award is granted to any New Jersey high school student who ranks in the top 10% of their graduating class at the end of their junior year. This top 10% must also graduate as the first, second, or third ranking student in the class or achieve at least a 1260 combined critical reading and math score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Each student receives $1,000 a year for the duration of their college career so long as they attend a college in New Jersey.^[3] Students can receive the scholarship for no more than five semesters at a two-year institution and no more than eight semesters at a four-year institution. The award is paid by NJHESAA directly to the institution in which the student is enrolled.^[4]

The award was established in the 1989-1990 academic year and posthumously honors Edward J. Bloustein, the seventeenth President of Rutgers University. The award was granted to more than 5,000 students in the 2006-2007 collegiate academic year.^[5]

In 2004, then Governor Jim McGreevey created the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship program (NJ STARS) to assist New Jersey high school students who go on to one of New Jersey's county colleges after graduation. Under this program, students who graduated in the top twenty percent of their high school class are provided with free tuition and fees at any New Jersey community college. The program covers up to five semesters of tuition as long as the student takes at least 12 credits each semester. Recipients must maintain a 3.0 grade point average through the first year in order to have the scholarship renewed for the second year.^[6]

The program was later expanded to include the NJ STARS II program. Any student who receives scholarship aid in the NJ STARS program at a county college can receive aid at a New Jersey 4-year college after graduation from the county college. The NJ STARS II program provides full tuition for the student at participating New Jersey colleges. The state provides $4,000 for tuition for the student and the college covers the rest of the balance. A student must also apply for federal aid in order to reduce the balance for which the colleges must provide.^[7]

Assumption College for Sisters, Mendham Berkeley College, various campuses Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood Bloomfield College, Bloomfield Caldwell College, Caldwell Centenary College, Hackettstown The College of New Jersey, Ewing Township College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown DeVry University, North Brunswick Drew University, Madison Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Park-Madison & Teaneck-Hackensack campuses Felician College, Rutherford & Lodi campuses Georgian Court University, Lakewood Kean University, Union-Elizabeth Monmouth University, West Long Branch Montclair State University, Montclair New Jersey City University, Jersey City New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark Princeton University, Princeton Rabbinical College of America, Morristown, New Jersey Ramapo College, Mahwah Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, New Jersey Rider University, Lawrenceville Rowan University, Glassboro Rowan University, Camden Campus

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers, New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus Rutgers, Camden Campus Rutgers, Newark Campus Saint Peter's College, Jersey City Seton Hall University, South Orange Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken Thomas Edison State College, Trenton University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey or UMDNJ Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Newark, Piscataway, & Stratford campuses New Jersey Medical School, Newark New Jersey Dental School, Newark Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, Piscataway, & Camden campuses School of Health Related Professions, Newark, Piscataway, Scotch Plains, & Stratford campuses School of Nursing, Newark, Piscataway, Stratford, Mahwah, Glassboro, & Edison campuses School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford School of Public Health, Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Stratford/Camden campuses William Paterson University, Wayne

In addition to the above institutions, there are 19 county colleges, serving the 21 counties in the state.

• Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing, Atlantic City, and Cape May Court House campuses
• Bergen Community College, Paramus
• Brookdale Community College, Lincroft - the community college of Monmouth County
• Burlington County College, Pemberton
• Camden County College, Blackwood, Camden and Cherry Hill
• County College of Morris, Randolph
• Cumberland County College, Vineland
• Essex County College, Newark & West Caldwell campuses
• Gloucester County College, Sewell
• Hudson County Community College, Jersey City
• Mercer County Community College, West Windsor
• Middlesex County College, Edison
• Ocean County College, Toms River
• Passaic County Community College, Paterson-Wanaque-Wayne
• Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch
• Salem Community College, Carneys Point
• Sussex County Community College, Newton
• Union County College, Cranford, Elizabeth, and Plainfield
• Warren County Community College, Washington

• List of colleges and universities

• State of New Jersey
• New Jersey Commission on Higher Education