All University Academy Charter High School graduates who apply to NJCU with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 (a B+) or higher are eligible to receive a full four-year scholarship, according to the UACHS website. However, officials at NJCU state that the GPA requirement is 3.2.
Until September 2009, NJCU’s scholarship requirements were a GPA of 3.0, which is a B, and an SAT score of 920.
In a survey conducted by the Student Voice of 20 students in each class, 60 percent of freshmen, 70 percent of sophomores, 60 percent of juniors and 45 percent of the senior class said they did not know about the new requirements. Fourteen teachers said they were aware of the change in the requirements, but were not sure what the change was.
“I thought everybody in the UACHS community knew about this, and I said it during freshmen orientation since last year,” Dean Erie Lugo said. He said that the GPA requirement is 3.3 and that is what will be published in the new student handbook in October. The 2009-2010 handbook listed NJCU’s GPA requirement as 3.0.
The college raised the GPA requirement in order to balance with the 4.2 grade point scale used at UACHS, guidance counselor Jennifer Koslow said.
Koslow said that when the school was built, there was a verbal agreement between the UACHS administration and NJCU concerning the scholarship requirements.
“Raising their GPA was not right because if they said they were going to do something, then they shouldn’t take it back, and I went down there and debated with the college about keeping it at 3.0,” Koslow said.
However, Lugo said “the scholarship is an NJCU giveaway,” so they could change it as they please, and “my hands are tied.”
“The rug was pulled out from under us, but I understand why they did it,” Lugo said.
In order to keep the scholarship, students need to keep a B average every marking period. According to Lugo, only one student has successfully taken advantage of the scholarship for all four years.
Jose Balda, associate director of undergraduate admissions office at NJCU, said he believes that there is a misunderstanding between the school and NJCU’s board of trustees about what the new GPA requirement is.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of the 3.3, but I’ve heard of the 3.2, and I believe we need to have a meeting so we could iron things out,” Balda said.
Balda said not all schools offer advanced placement courses and since UACHS does, the school’s grade point scale is higher. He believes the 3.2 GPA requirement is reasonable. Since this misunderstanding can affect students, he suggested a meeting between the school’s and college’s boards of trustees.
“We could all sit here and point fingers, but what then, we’re not doing anything but seesawing,” Balda said.
Carmen Panlilo, assistant vice president of NJCU admissions and enrollment, confirmed that the GPA requirement is 3.2. There will be a meeting of NJCU’s board of trustees and then a meeting with the school’s board of trustees to discuss any misunderstandings, Panlilo said.
