The New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund provides financial assistance and support services (e.g. counseling, tutoring, developmental course work) to students from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds who attend institutions of higher education in the State of New Jersey.

Forty-two of New Jersey's community colleges and public and private four-year colleges and universities participate in the EOF Program. However, the actual number of available spaces at each college or university is limited. To participate in an EOF program, students must be New Jersey residents and must apply to a New Jersey college or university and file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Because EOF is a campus-based program, each campus is responsible for student recruitment, selection, program services, and its own specific criteria for EOF admission and program participation.

Students should contact the EOF director at the particular institution of their interest for specific admissions information and requirements for participation in the EOF program. Grants are generally available to students from families with a background of poverty, whose annual income falls within the scale listed below and who meet the academic criteria set by the institution of their choice.

Grants are available for both undergraduate and graduate studies. Undergraduate grants range from $200 - $2,500 and graduate grants from $200 - $4,350 depending on the type of institution and financial need.

The EOF Program also administers the Martin Luther King Physician-Dentist Scholarship for students pursuing degrees in medicine or dentistry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the C. Clyde Ferguson Law Scholarship for students pursuing graduate studies in law at Rutgers, the State University or Seton Hall University.

Please note that EOF, the Martin Luther King Physician-Dentist and the C. Clyde Ferguson Law Scholarships are available only to students attending institutions within the State of New Jersey.

EOF Graduate Grants

The objective of the graduate EOF program is to increase participation in graduate and professional study of New Jersey residents from backgrounds of historical poverty. Priority in granting EOF graduate grants shall be given to students who received the EOF undergraduate grant.

• New Jersey resident 12 consecutive months prior to receiving the award

• Students attending graduate school at out-of-state institutions are not eligible for EOF graduate grants.

• Students who received EOF grants as undergraduates shall be given priority consideration for EOF graduate grants. These students are presumed to have met the financial eligibility criteria for graduate EOF as long as they continue to demonstrate financial need.

• Other students must meet rules governing state residency, and non-citizens and resident alien status respectively, the EOF financial eligibility criteria and be full-time graduate student as defined by the institution offering the graduate program of study; and attend an eligible institution participating in the Fund.

• Students may not receive an EOF graduate grant to pursue a second graduate or professional degree at the same level of study for which he or she has already been funded. Graduate degree and certificate programs must have a minimum requirement of 24 equivalent semester hours and be at least one academic year in duration.

• Applications can be obtained through the Graduate Office and/or the EOF Campus Director at the educational institution.

• For additional information, contact the Commission on Higher Education, EOF Office at (609) 984-2709.

C. Clyde Ferguson Law Scholarships Eligibility

• The scholarship program is open to students who fall within the income guidelines or to minority or disadvantaged students with demonstrated financial need and former or current recipients of the EOF undergraduate or graduate grant, or those students who would have been eligible as undergraduates to receive the EOF grant.

• All recipients must be New Jersey residents for 12 consecutive months prior to receiving the award and must be enrolled full-time in a program leading toward an initial law degree through either the Minority Student Program at Rutgers University School of Law - Newark, or at Rutgers University School of Law - Camden, or Seton Hall University Law School.

• Based on financial need

• Maximum and minimum award ranges are established annually by the EOF Board of Directors

• Awards shall not exceed the maximum of tuition, fees, room and board charged at Rutgers University School of Law at Newark

• Applications can be obtained through the Graduate Office or the EOF Campus Director at the educational institution.

• For additional information, contact the Commission on Higher Education, EOF Office at (609) 984-2709.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Physician and Dentist Scholarship Eligibility

• The scholarship program is open to students who fall within the income guidelines and who are minority students included in one of the ethnic groups recognized by the Association of American Medical Colleges or the American Association of Dental Schools as underrepresented in the medical or dental professions, or former or current recipients of the New Jersey EOF Article III undergraduate or graduate grant; or those students who would have been eligible as undergraduates for the New Jersey EOF Article III student grant.

• Recipients must be legal residents of the State of New Jersey for at least two (2) years immediately before receiving the scholarship and must plan to enroll full-time in a program leading toward a medical degree (M.D., D.O. or D.M.D) at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

• Based on financial need.

• Maximum and minimum award ranges are established annually by the EOF Board of Directors.

• Awards shall not exceed the maximum amount of tuition charged at the university.

• Applications can be obtained through the Graduate Office or the EOF Campus Director at the educational institution.

• For additional information, contact the Commission on Higher Education, EOF Office at (609) 984-2709.