Newark Will Pay For 40 Students To Attend Saint Elizabeth University

NEWARK, NJ — The City of Newark and Saint Elizabeth University (SEU) have launched a pilot program that will guarantee a “debt-free” four-year college education for 40 deserving local students, officials announced Thursday.

The program, dubbed “Guaranteed Education,” will enable the students to attend the Morristown-based university for four years through a $1 million, city-powered grant.

Here’s how it will work, Newark officials said:

“The City of Newark will bear the cost of the selected students from Newark families for the four-year program. The grant represents ‘last dollar’ funding that takes into account individual student’s federal, state and institutional financial assistance, and will focus on students entering the fields of education, nursing, psychology and social work. The pilot will be administered through Saint Elizabeth University’s Educational Opportunity Fund program, with the students beginning their college journey at SEU in June 2022.”

Mayor Ras Baraka trumpeted the pilot program, noting that less than 16 percent of Newarkers have a bachelor’s degree. And those who do often face crushing student loan debt, he added.

“The majority of Black and Brown students finance their education through debt,” Baraka said. “To close the wealth and education gap in the state of New Jersey, we must first start by making secondary education free, not just at community colleges, but also at four-year institutions.”

“Our children deserve it,” Baraka added.

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SEU administrators also praised the new pilot.

“We are very excited to partner with the City of Newark and Mayor Baraka in launching this important pilot program,” President Gary Crosby said.

“On behalf of Saint Elizabeth’s EOF program, we are honored and privileged to support this critical initiative focused on encouraging upward mobility opportunities among Newark residents,” director David Hill said.

“It is especially fitting for this innovative pilot to be administered by the City of Newark, since the EOF program originated from the challenges Newark faced 55 years ago,” Hill added.

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