Trenton, NJ -- The Board of the NJ Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) recently approved the Tuition Aid Grant Program (TAG) and Part-time Tuition Aid Grant Program for Community College Students award schedules for the 2009-2010 school year. New Jersey students and families can continue to count on the State's hallmark need-based grant programs to assist them in paying for college expenses. These programs are recognized nationally for providing among the largest state grant award dollars per student.

Since its inception in 1978, the TAG program has delivered over $3.420 billion to 1.643 million students. This past year, TAG assisted more than 63, 000 students while Part-time TAG assisted nearly 9,900 students at county colleges with a total of over $262 million in grant assistance.

"In a year where we are facing a national recession, the continued support of the TAG and Part-time TAG programs by Governor Corzine, the Legislature, and the HESAA Board, is critical to helping students and families struggling to meet the cost of a college education," commented Michael Angulo, Executive Director of HESAA. "We are grateful to Governor Corzine for his commitment to increase funding for financial aid programs, like TAG and Part-time TAG, which will sustain a highly educated workforce essential for New Jersey's economic success."

The TAG program offers grants of up to full tuition based on last year's tuition at public institutions and grants of up to 50% of last year's tuition for independent colleges for students with the highest need.

"Full-time awards for students attending an independent school can amount to $11,340," Director Angulo stated.

Awards for students attending proprietary career schools are equivalent to the average awards attending State colleges. This coming year, over 70,000 students attending New Jersey colleges are estimated to receive grant funds to help defray the cost of tuition.

"I am proud of the important role HESAA plays in administering the State's financial aid programs, and its 50 years of delivering information and resources to New Jersey's working families and students so that a college education can be a reality," Director Angulo concluded.

Since 1959, HESAA, a non-profit, state designated Authority, has delivered over $18 billion in financial aid. Each year, over 1 million individuals receive assistance from outreach and aid programs administered by HESAA including the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) program, the Part-time TAG for County College Students, NJSTARS and STARS II, the Coordinated Garden State Scholarship program, the Federal Family Education Loan program, NJCLASS, and NJBEST. For additional information about HESAA please visit our web site at www.hesaa.org or call our toll-free hotline at 800-792-8670.

Posted 08/05/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Posting of press releases is done as a service to Members and does not imply endorsement or support by NASFAA. NASFAA does not review this information for content or accuracy.