New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 9A - HIGHER EDUCATION
Chapter 11 - EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FUND: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND POLICIES
Subchapter 1 - AUTHORITY, MISSION AND SCOPE
Section 9A:11-1.2 - Definitions
The following words and terms, as used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Allocation" means the distribution of the annual appropriation to support campus programs and student grants approved by the EOF Board of Directors in the following funding categories: Summer Program Article III undergraduate, Academic Year Article III undergraduate, Academic Year Article III graduate, Summer Program Article IV undergraduate, Academic Year Article IV, Winter Session Article III undergraduate, Winter Session Article IV undergraduate, and any special project funding during the summer, winter, or academic year from either Article III or Article IV, and Ferguson and King Scholarships.
"Article III " means a New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund undergraduate or graduate student financial aid grant awarded to an eligible student for the academic year, winter, or summer sessions, or funds used to support the summer program. It is also referred to as Opportunity Grants.
"Article IV " means a New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund academic year, winter, or summer grant allocated to a participating New Jersey college or university to provide program support services to EOF-eligible students. It is also referred to as Supplemental Opportunity Grants.
"Board" means the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund Board of Directors, which is appointed by the Governor; sets policy; approves all necessary rules for program operation and student eligibility for Article III academic year, winter, and summer sessions, undergraduate and graduate student grants, academic year, winter, and summer programs, Article IV support funds, C. Clyde Ferguson Law Scholarship, and the Martin Luther King Physician-Dentist Scholarship; develops the annual budget request for the Statewide program; and supports EOF programs at public and independent colleges and universities.
"Budgeted contract" means the fiscal year contract signed by the EOF Executive Director and the president of the participating institution.
"Campus EOF administrator/director" means the individual at a New Jersey institution of higher education directly responsible for the overall administration of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program at that particular college or university campus.
"College credit" means units that are associated with the completion of a college level course that counts towards the total number of credits required to earn either a certificate, associate's degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.
"Commission" means the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, which is the State-level planning and coordinating agency for higher education in New Jersey.
"Commission/EOF" means the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund Program's central office, located within the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education.
"District Factor Group (DFG)" means an indicator of the socioeconomic status of citizens in each New Jersey school district. The New Jersey Department of Education uses this measure for the comparative reporting of test results from New Jersey's Statewide testing programs. The indicators use demographic variables from the most recent U.S. census data, and school districts are ranked and divided into alphabetical groups. The groups range from "A" (lowest socioeconomic districts) to "J" (highest socioeconomic districts).
"Eligible urban aid municipality" means a New Jersey municipality that has been authorized to participate in programs administered by the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority.
"EOF" means the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund Program.
"EOF Central Office" means the staff persons or members of the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE), or its successor office, responsible for the administration of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF).
"EOF equity index" means the ratio of the EOF cohort graduation rate to the overall institutional cohort graduation rate.
"EOF Executive Director" means the chief executive officer of the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund Program.
"EOF transfer student" means an undergraduate student who received an initial Article III student grant while earning their associate degree and wishes to pursue a baccalaureate degree at a New Jersey institution that participates in the EOF program, or a student who received an initial Article III student grant and wishes to complete their degree at a New Jersey institution other than the one where they received their initial Article III student grant.
"Federal poverty guidelines" means the family poverty thresholds established annually by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
"Ferguson Scholarship" means the C. Clyde Ferguson Law Scholarship program.
"First-generation college student" means an applicant whose parent(s) (in the case of an applicant who regularly resided with and received support from only one parent) or legal guardian(s) did not complete a baccalaureate degree.
"First-time part-time entering student" means a student who has no prior college experience and is advised by institutional EOF staff to enroll for a minimum of six credits but no more than 11 credits.
"First-year student" means, for EOF purposes, a student who has earned less than 24 college credits.
"Fund" means the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund Program.
"High-distress area" means an area in New Jersey characterized by low or substandard housing and/or low real estate value, low per capita income, high unemployment, population decline, and a high percentage of residents receiving welfare and other benefits targeted for low-income families.
"Historical poverty code" means the code assigned to the six criteria students can use to demonstrate a history of poverty, that must be entered into the New Jersey student grant payment system to process an institution's request for an initial academic year Article III undergraduate EOF student grant.
"Initial student" means a student who is receiving an Article III EOF undergraduate or graduate student grant for the first time. The term "initial" is not synonymous with the word "first-year student," nor does it imply that the student is in their first year of college attendance.
"King Scholarship" means the Martin Luther King Physician-Dentist Scholarship program.
"Labor surplus area," as defined by the New Jersey Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is an area with an unemployment rate of at least 20 percent above the national average for the previous two calendar years. These areas also are eligible for Federal programs designed to provide assistance to impoverished, disadvantaged communities undergoing serious economic problems.
"Master contract" means an annual agreement entered between the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, or its successor office, and individual New Jersey institutions of higher education specifying the contractual terms and conditions under which the Office of the Secretary shall provide funds specified under the applicable project contract to the institution referred to as the "contractor."
"Need" means the difference between the total educational expenses to attend a particular college and what a student or student's family is expected to contribute towards meeting those costs based on methodology contained in Federal Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, P.L. 89-329, including all subsequent amendments and supplements.
"New Jersey College Bound Grant Program" means a precollege educational enrichment program designed to help ensure completion of secondary school; to increase college admission, retention, and graduation rates of urban youth; and to encourage the successful pursuit of postsecondary education in the science, mathematics, or technology that was funded by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education.
"NJ GEAR UP State project/New Jersey College Bound Grant Program" means any Federally funded New Jersey State project administered by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, or its successor office, under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.
"NJ GEAR UP/NJ College Bound grant program support-services-only (NJGEARUP/NJ College Bound/SSO) student" refers to an NJ GEAR UP State project and/or NJ College Bound grant program graduate enrolled in college through the Fund who is unable to demonstrate financial eligibility for an initial Article III student grant, but is still eligible to receive EOF Article IV student support services.
"Office of the Secretary of Higher Education" means the State-level planning and coordinating agency for higher education, or its successor office.
"PAB" means the Program Advisory Board appointed by institutions participating in the Fund.
"Part-time student" means a student who is enrolled for a minimum of six credits but no more than 11 credits.
"Participating institution" means a New Jersey institution of higher education that is licensed by the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, or its successor office, and accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and which has entered into a contractual relationship with the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to provide an EOF undergraduate, graduate, and/or summer program for eligible students.
"Pre-first year student" means, for EOF purposes, a student who prior to the start of the EOF Summer program, qualifies to be defined as a first-year student and has not matriculated (either part-time or full-time) into any other institution after having earned their high school diploma, GED, or high school equivalency certificate.
"Readmitted student" means an EOF renewal student who did not receive an EOF Academic Year Article III grant the previous semester and is returning to the institutional EOF program where their last grant was received.
"Renewal student" means a student who previously has received an Article III EOF undergraduate or graduate student grant.
"Senior institution" means a baccalaureate (or higher) degree-granting college or university.
"Summer program" means, for EOF purposes, any programming that an institution develops that supports either EOF pre-first year students or EOF renewal students to take academic courses or participate in various enrichment activities during the summer session. The summer program traditionally consists of either a pre-first year student summer program and/or a renewal summer program. The pre-first year student summer program introduces initial students to the academic and social demands of college life in preparation for their transition to the fall semester. The renewal summer program provides financial support for EOF upperclassmen to enroll in courses during an institution's summer session to help address their academic advancement.
"Summer session" means the period of time in an institution's academic calendar between the conclusion of the preceding spring term and the beginning of the subsequent fall term.
"TRIO programs" means the Federally funded grant programs Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services.
"Winter program" means, for EOF purposes, any programming that an institution develops that supports EOF renewal students to take academic courses or participate in various enrichment activities during the winter session. The winter program is intended to help address the academic advancement or enrichment of renewal students during the winter session.
"Winter session" means the period of time in an institution's academic calendar between the conclusion of the preceding fall term and the beginning of the subsequent spring term.
