The program, dubbed , will be available to first- and second-year students on the school鈥檚 New Brunswick campus beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. Rutgers officials expect 7,600 students 鈥� nearly 20% of enrolled undergraduates 鈥� to qualify for the program. 

The initiative is launching the same semester as Garden State Guarantee, a college affordability program signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy aimed at helping third- and fourth-year students from low- and middle-income households.

If students from families with an adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less take advantage of both programs, full tuition and mandatory fees would be covered for four years.

For families with incomes between $65,001 and $80,000, the cost would be a maximum of $3,000 annually. The maximum cost would rise to $5,000 annually for families making between $80,001 and $100,000.

Students would still be responsible for meal plans, housing, textbooks, transportation, and other costs.

Scarlet Guarantee is expected to cost $24 million for the first year, with the state paying $10 million. It will be what鈥檚 known as a 鈥渓ast dollar鈥� program, meaning it will kick in on top of other scholarships and grants.

鈥淭he Scarlet Guarantee program will help qualified students from across New Jersey realize their hopes, dreams, and ambitions and will help Rutgers become an even richer and more diverse university,鈥� Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway said in a statement. 

The program is part of a nationwide movement to lower the skyrocketing cost of higher education. , which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid, reports the national average tuition at a public college stood at $10,740 for the 2021-2022 academic year.

According to the , the cost of college jumped 169% from 1980 to 2019.

For the  in-state tuition at Rutgers costs $12,536, while non-New Jersey residents pay more than $29,000. Room and board cost students another $13,400, and fees tack on an average of $3,268.

Tuition for 2022-2023 has not been set. 

A 2022 study by  found New Jersey is the fifth most expensive state for in-state college tuition, behind New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.

Students don鈥檛 have to fill out any extra paperwork to be considered for Scarlet Guarantee. Anyone who completes the FAFSA or New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application for Dreamers 鈥� undocumented students protected under DACA 鈥� are automatically considered.

Students must be full-time, enrolled in at least 12 credits per semester working toward their first bachelor鈥檚 degree, and meet academic progress standards. Students in their fifth year and graduate students are not eligible.

Rutgers  and Rutgers  already have similar programs providing free tuition to some families who earn less than $65,000, and reduced tuition fees for students from households that earn less than $100,000. Other schools across the Garden State, including  and , have expanded their financial aid to help cut costs for low- and middle-income students. 

New Jersey is also home to the , which offers free tuition to 18 community colleges for undergraduates from homes with incomes of $65,000 or less.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on and .

At the state level, financial support for college has steadily grown more generous, as nineteen states have enacted free community college tuition over the last four years. This shift represents a major investment in providing community college for all, even if many of these programs are 鈥渓ast dollar鈥� programs that kick in after all other grants have been applied to their tuition, while students still pay other significant costs 鈥� room, board, transportation, and books.

Biden鈥檚 proposals and these state programs aim to spend more public money on the same systems, based on the premise that many students would complete either a two- or four-year degree if only costs were lower. But increasing educational opportunity is more complicated than that. The President鈥檚 plan acknowledges the complexity of the issue, including 鈥�$62 billion to invest in evidence-based strategies to strengthen completion and retention rates at community colleges and institutions that serve students from our most disadvantaged communities.鈥�

With the nationwide completion rate for two-year Associate鈥檚 programs at 42.1% percent after four years, the need for new approaches is clear. Hopefully, the administration will recognize the structural issues with community colleges and consider alternatives to the current system as it invests in education.

My on the City University of New York鈥檚 (CUNY鈥檚) community colleges offers an instructive case study in the problems with our current approach. At the root of the issue is the misdirection of too many low achieving students to academic study eventually requiring four-year degrees. The most recently available results from CUNY show that only about a quarter of the students who entered two-year Associate degree programs in 2015 were able to earn their degree within four years. The long-term outcomes for an earlier group of students were also sobering. Ten long years after beginning their college careers in the community colleges, only 21 percent of students earned a bachelor’s degree and 17 percent earned an associate degree.

These results should hardly be surprising. Many students enter CUNY鈥檚 community colleges after barely eking by in the city鈥檚 lowest performing public high schools. While CUNY鈥檚 Senior Colleges generally admit students with high school Grade Point Averages in the mid 80s to 90s (A and B students), CUNY鈥檚 community colleges admit students with GPAs in the range of 77-79 (C students). Data from the City鈥檚 high schools indicate that many of these students came through that system鈥檚 least selective and lowest performing schools. Their graduates are ill-prepared for college.

And yet, these students are preparing for four-year degrees. Once admitted to CUNY鈥檚 community colleges, 42 percent of students are enrolled in liberal arts programs and another 24 percent are enrolled in other associates degree programs designed to move them on to bachelor鈥檚 programs. Given the low completion rates of students for these students, many would be better served by more expeditious programs to prepare them for entry level positions with a living wage.

There is one bright spot in the CUNY community college system, which could be a model for improving completion rates beyond New York 鈥� the Accelerated Studies in Associate Programs (ASAP). Independent evaluators have found it to be clearly successful in increasing both student retention and graduation rates.

Originally begun with students who had attained full proficiency for college level work, the program has evolved to include students who need developmental course work in one or two areas. Once admitted, in return for tuition waivers, free Metro-card passes and financial support for books and other expenses, the students must follow an individualized course plan, check in regularly with dedicated counsellors and maintain their grades and progress toward graduation.

ASAP certainly qualifies as a successful 鈥渆vidence-based strategy to improve completion rates鈥� that the administration should consider supporting, but even these sorts of programs won鈥檛 be the best fit for everyone. Young people who persevere through high school passing, but just getting by, are not well served by the current system. They need programs that will allow them to quickly find success in the world of work, gaining agency over their own lives, while allowing them the opportunity to later pursue continued college education or training at their own choosing.

An equally hopeful trend on the national level is the growing use of certificate programs to quickly move students to the workforce (in 2019, close to 620,000 certificates were by community colleges). These numbers are encouraging; by targeting higher education to specific skills and courses needed for a certain industry, certificates save students money, and prepare them for the outside world more quickly. But still too many students are unsuccessfully pursuing Associates degrees designed as pathways to bachelor’s degree programs. More money will not solve that problem, but money tied to incentives for community colleges to continue to expand their work with local business and trade groups might well create much greater opportunities in underserved communities.

Longtime education analyst Bruno Manno has a name for this paradigm shift: opportunity pluralism. As he has described, programs focused on workforce preparation 鈥渇oster opportunity pluralism, creating new options to the 鈥榖achelor鈥檚 degree of bust鈥� mindset.鈥� He stresses that in order to be successful, these programs must have clearly sequenced curriculum, 鈥渁ligned with labor market needs.鈥� Where these programs have been successful, they are guided by formal agreements among schools, colleges, local governments and trade associations or organizations.

Last year, Opportunity America, a think tank led by Tamar Jacoby, convened a panel of experts to consider reimagining the nation鈥檚 community colleges as the country rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic. Their report called for community colleges to focus more directly on preparing their students for entry into the workforce. Whenever possible, their programs, the report emphasized, 鈥渟hould be offered in partnership with employers who help design the content and stand ready to hire graduates.鈥� These programs need to be judged by their success at job placement: 鈥渃ommunity college funding should be geared more closely to job placement and wages鈥� and engage in 鈥渄ay-to-day鈥� collaboration with employers.

These findings suggest that a fundamental reorientation could replace the shortfalls of the CUNY community colleges and similar systems across the country with true paths of upward mobility. By seeking an institutional alignment with the business sector, community colleges could provide students a rapid jump start to meaningful careers, and allow students pursuing higher education to succeed rather than stagnate on their way to a degree.

Community colleges will not undergo this seismic shift on their own, as many of them remain rooted in the notion that four-year college degrees are the only path to success. But if Congress pursues broad structural reforms as it considers the President鈥檚 plans, it could uplift students left behind by the current educational system and build a more inclusive economy. At the federal level, legislators should resist the urge to throw more money at the problem. At the state and local level, policymakers should work creatively to offer all high school graduates a path to the world of work.

If today鈥檚 leaders can pursue meaningful reform to the community college system, and operate within a paradigm of true opportunity pluralism, the next generation will have broader educational opportunities, better employment outcomes, and perhaps even a new definition of success.

Ray Domanico is a senior fellow and director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute.

Five years ago, Brooke Clark would have never believed that she would make the Dean鈥檚 List. In fact, Clark had always felt guilty that she had not finished college.

After graduating high school in 2013, Clark was taking care of her ill father, working full-time, and attending a new college without a sense of purpose. She dropped out after the first year.

Over the next few years Clark says she 鈥済rew up,鈥� started going to therapy for anxiety and depression, and thought more seriously about her future. 鈥淚 had to really focus on growing my work ethic, becoming a better employee, and setting standards for myself,鈥� she said.

Still the idea of going back to college nagged at her.

鈥淛ust call, ask for some information鈥� her therapist suggested one day. A coworker had mentioned a program called Tennessee Reconnect that could help pay for college. She went to the website and was set up with a 鈥淩econnect Navigator,鈥� or advisor, to discuss her options.

Now Clark is a second-year student at Nashville State Community College pursuing Computer Information Technology. She did, in fact, make the Dean鈥檚 List. And she did it with the support of Tennessee Reconnect, a state mentorship and financial support program that covers community college tuition for adults over 24 earning their first postsecondary degree.

The program . The Tennessee Higher Education Commission expected about 10,000 applications. Four times that number applied. The trend continued in the program鈥檚 second year. As part of the state鈥檚 鈥淒rive to 55鈥� initiative, which aims to have 55 percent of Tennessee adults earn a postsecondary degree by 2025, the state saw a 30 percent increase in the number of adult students attending postsecondary programs after the launch of Tennessee Reconnect.

Then COVID-19 came.

Community colleges were hit especially hard by the pandemic, with the national enrollment declining by 9.5 percent. Comparatively, private non-profit 4-year colleges have only seen a two percent decline. In Tennessee, community colleges enrollment is down by 11.5 percent.

Emily House, Executive Director of THEC, says that adult students have been hit in particular ways. They are more likely to have children doing at-home learning themselves, often making devices or bandwidth even less available for their own studies. They are also more likely to be hesitant about virtual learning than their younger peers.

Enrollment in the Tennessee Reconnect program declined by 15 percent according to the Tennessee Board of Regents, which runs the state鈥檚 community colleges. But even with the decline this year, the program鈥檚 initial success weighs out to a net gain of adult students going back to school. Officials credit the program with the fact that the drop-off rate isn鈥檛 higher, like some other states that have seen enrollment numbers plunge even more drastically. They also believe that once things start to normalize again post-pandemic, programs like Reconnect will be crucial to the recovery of higher education.

But one school is bucking the trend. Nashville State, where Clark attends, has seen a total decline in enrollment by about 11 percent, like most schools in the state. But it has actually seen a slight increase in the number of Tennessee Reconnect students this year. Students, administrators, and Reconnect navigators interviewed all credit the school鈥檚 holistic approach to adult students.

Clark said that going back to school would have been impossible without Tennessee Reconnect, because she wouldn鈥檛 have been able to afford it. But she credits her success to more than just the financial aid.

鈥淚f you put time into Nashville State, Nashville State will put time into you,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e found really quickly that the balance of going to school, work, and taking care of your family is hard in any situation. And for those that had never been to college, it became a bit overwhelming. We had to build additional supports,鈥� said Nashville State President Shanna Jackson.

Crucial to this approach was Fred Frazier, often referred to as the 鈥渕ayor鈥� of Nashville State. Frazier has been a Reconnect Navigator since the program鈥檚 inception.

Beyond his caseload, he started a 鈥淩econnect Cafe鈥� at the school. A space with free coffee, drinks, and snacks, it is a place where students can work or chat. Students often started coming to the 鈥渃afe鈥� for the refreshments, but they stayed for the conversation and support.

Frazier believes that making information easily accessible and informally talking to students about their experiences, is the key to success. Even if a non-Reconnect student needs something outside the scope of the program, he makes sure they talk to the right person. Whether students come in with academic issues, financial aid questions, or family concerns, Frazier is always ready with a disarming joke about sweets (his favorite is double crusted peach cobbler), a box of tissues, or a phone call to the proper resource.

Nashville State is part of the city鈥檚 Talent Hub, an initiative to provide services and increase opportunities for Nashville鈥檚 high-poverty 鈥淧romise Zone.鈥� Through the hub, Jackson works with city agencies, local partners, and private donors to establish programs aiding students with childcare, transportation, and other .

It was through casual conversations with students that Frazier realized the needs beyond tuition assistance, such as the cost of textbooks. After some brainstorming and discussions with other partners, Frazier and Jackson were able to find a way to cover textbook costs for Reconnect students.

The 鈥渃afe鈥� shut down when the college went remote, but the relationships that were already made helped keep students engaged even virtually. Frazier remained the go-to person for assistance. More students started asking about how to get connected to wifi, what to do if they needed a computer, or how to avoid eviction. As needs increased during the pandemic, Frazier鈥檚 pre-existing reputation as the person who would find answers became even more crucial.

Frazier has continued to meet students where they are. Students responded better to texts than phone calls, so he found ways to send mass texts around important deadlines. He held open Zoom sessions where students could just drop in. While he misses the in-person interaction, these tweaks allowed him to stay connected to students in the best way the pandemic would allow.

But Nashville State has also been able to recruit some new students, once again due to earlier investment. Along with another Reconnect Navigator Minzi Thomas, they run a 鈥淩econnect Ambassador鈥� program. They train groups in support service roles 鈥� employees from the Department of Human Services, financial aid officers, and community leaders 鈥� in the specifics of Tennessee Reconnect so that they can offer information about the program in their own circles. Jackson and Thomas are also organizing a 鈥渓istening tour鈥� to determine what other barriers might stand in the way of adults鈥� college ambitions.

Jackson thinks that the nationwide discussion about free community college is crucial first step, but her experience at Nashville State shows that some students need more than just tuition assistance to pursue higher education.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not leaving anybody behind,鈥� she said.

Melanie Bavaria is a multimedia education reporter and a contributor to Next City