Bergen Community College Acceptance Rate, GPA, and Admission Requirements

NJ STARS eligibility requires meeting with a transfer advisor before completing 20 transferable credits, not simply enrolling on time. A student who delays activating or planning around NJ STARS until midway through their first year risks crossing that 20-credit threshold before their transfer planning is in place - get this on the calendar in the first semester, not "sometime before transferring."

Students whose tuition is already covered by other federal or state aid are considered "unfunded" NJ STARS students, but can still qualify for NJ STARS II if they graduate within five semesters with a 3.25 GPA or higher. Don't assume a student with strong financial aid elsewhere has nothing to gain from NJ STARS - flag this unfunded pathway explicitly so they don't miss it.

Starting with the 2025-2026 academic year, the Garden State Guarantee program was discontinued for new students with adjusted gross incomes between $65,001 and $100,000 (Tiers 2 and 3); only Tier 1 ($0-$65,000 AGI) remains open to new applicants, with existing Tier 2/3 recipients grandfathered in if they continue meeting eligibility. If you're advising a student in that middle income range based on older information, correct this immediately - it's a real, current policy shift, not a rumor.

NJ STARS and NJ STARS II eligibility provides funding but explicitly does not guarantee or give preference for admission to the four-year institution a student wants to transfer to; all of that institution's normal admissions criteria still apply. Make sure students understand they still need to meet the receiving school's standard requirements, not assume the scholarship itself opens the door.