Christie Administration Helps Students Affected by Hurricane

TRENTON – Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks announced today that college students and families will have an extra month to provide information to complete State financial aid applications and additional time to make loan payments.
“While families are struggling to recover from the unprecedented impacts of Hurricane Sandy, the Christie Administration is moving forward in every way we can to ease stress and help lives return to normal,” said Secretary Hendricks. “After the hurricane, many families need time to put their lives back together. When students have been without power or their homes have been flooded, they should not need to worry about their financial aid.”
To help, the Christie Administration will give students and families more time to make payments on student loans administered by New Jersey’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA).
Students will also be given an additional month to provide necessary information for state grant and scholarship programs including the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG), the Part-time TAG for County College Students program, the Educational Opportunity Fund, NJ STARS/II, and the Governor’s Urban Scholarship program.
Gabrielle Charette, executive director of HESAA, said students should contact the Authority to get the help they need.
“We are committed to helping those whose lives have been disrupted by Hurricane Sandy. If you have a federal student loan that is currently being serviced by HESAA or a New Jersey College Loan to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) and are having difficulty making payments due to damage, loss of property or loss of employment sustained as a result of the storm, we can help,” Charette said.
If you have applied for one of the State grant or scholarship programs listed above and have received from HESAA an Additional Information Request (AIR) or a letter requesting tax return transcripts or other documents with a return date of Nov. 15, 2012, the deadline has now been extended to Dec. 14, 2012.
For help with student loans, contact HESAA’s Servicing and Collections at 1-800-792-8670, and press option #3 or email servicingandcollections@hesaa.org to discuss your options with a student loan counselor.
For questions concerning New Jersey grants and scholarships programs, please contact HESAA Client Services at 1-800-792-8670 and press option #2.
For more information about EOF deadlines, contact Dr. Glenn Lang, acting assistant Secretary of Higher Education, at (609) 984-2709 or email him at glenn.lang@njhe.state.nj.us.