NJ A4387

Students receiving Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) opportunity grants may elect to use a portion of their award during the summer session following the academic year for courses fulfilling graduation requirements or major credits

Students must notify the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education before the academic year begins, and the secretary will reduce the amount disbursed during the regular academic year accordingly

Summer session use of the opportunity grant does not count toward the maximum number of years a student is eligible to receive EOF funding

The Secretary of Higher Education must annually report on the number of students using summer grants and compare graduation rates (at 100% and 150% of average completion time) between students who did and did not use summer funding

The bill implements a recommendation from the College Affordability Study Commission's September 2016 final report