NJBEST Scholarship | New Jersey Student Financial Aid | HESAA

 

NJBEST Scholarship

The NJBEST scholarship provides a tax-free scholarship to beneficiaries of accounts under the NJBEST 529 College Savings Program in New Jersey. The account must be open for at least four years before the student enrolls in a New Jersey-based college and account contributions must be $1,200 or greater by the time the student enrolls.

Benefits

To receive the minimum scholarship amount of $2,000 at the time the student enrolls in a New Jersey college, the account must be open at least four years and the contributor must have made contributions of at least $1,200 in total. The amount of the scholarship increases by $1,000 for every two additional years the account is open and every $600 in additional contributions made, up to a maximum scholarship amount of $6,000.
See chart below:

Eligibility

• Student must be the beneficiary of a plan under the NJBEST 529 College Savings Program that has been open for at least four years.
• Total contributions to the plan must be equal to at least $1,200.*
• The contributor must make a withdrawal for qualified education expenses from the NJBEST account for which the student is beneficiary during the same semester the student applies for the scholarship.
• Either the student or contributor must be a New Jersey resident at the time of college attendance.
• Student must be enrolled at least half-time in an eligible New Jersey higher education institution, for either the fall or spring semester.
• The scholarship may be awarded only once to an eligible Beneficiary.
• The Scholarship amount is determined by the total amount of contributions that were made to the account by the time the student first enrolls at least half-time after graduating from high school or earning a GED**

Participating Institutions

Students must attend an approved New Jersey college, university or degree-granting proprietary school, as found here. The institution must also be Title IV eligible, as found here.

*First time enrollment date is used to determine the scholarship amount. Students enrolling in the fall semester of an academic year, the first contribution to NJBEST must have been credited to the contributor's account more than 48 months prior to September 1st of that academic year; Students enrolling in the spring semester of an academic year, the first contribution to NJBEST must have been credited to the contributor's account more than 48 months prior to February 1st of that academic year.​

​**First time enrollment is defined as the first time a student enrolls as either a full- or half-time in an approved New Jersey New Jersey college, university or degree-granting proprietary school.​

How to Apply

The NJBEST Scholarship application is available after June 1 every year. The deadline to apply is December 1 for the Fall semester and May 1 for the Spring semester. The student (not the contributor) must log into the New Jersey Financial Aid Management System (NJFAMS) to apply. To access NJFAMS now, click here

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