Scholarships

Beyond a shared commitment to educational opportunity, families establish scholarship funds with a wide range of goals and purposes in mind. They may offer traditional scholarships or customize fund awards for alternative scholarships.

The Community Foundation of New Jersey (“CFNJ”) administers 140 scholarship funds benefiting college-bound graduating high school seniors, and in a few cases, students currently enrolled in first time undergraduate studies. Our scholarship opportunities run the gamut, from those exclusive to a local high school or specific geographic region to those supporting specific majors or career pursuits.

Last year, CFNJ awarded over $1.5 million in scholarship assistance to 276 scholars. In our scholarship review process, scholars are evaluated on academic performance, extracurricular activities, community involvement, work (paid or unpaid), and a statement of the applicant’s personal aspirations, educational goals, and demonstrated unmet financial need.

Download Fact Sheet | List of Scholarship Funds | Renew | Student Profiles | 2024 Winners

FAFSA UPDATES

2024–25 Contributor FAFSA®

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid will host a webinar that provides contributor preparation for the upcoming 2024–25 FAFSA® form.

The session is geared toward students, parents, and college/career access professionals and will provide information on

identifying who is a contributor,
how to create a StudentAid.gov account username and password (FSA ID), and
the new consent and approval requirement.

There will also be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

2024-25 Contributor FAFSA Prep (office.com)

Launch of the 2024–25 FAFSA® Form

There are major changes and improvements coming to the 2024–25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. This redesigned and streamlined FAFSA form will be available by Dec. 31, 2023.

Launch of the 2024–25 FAFSA® Form | Federal Student Aid

Information for applicants:

Students seeking scholarship assistance can now fill out one application, click submit, and then review the scholarship opportunities for which they may qualify based on the answers provided.

It is important to note that criteria for each of our scholarship opportunities varies, and we strongly encourage guidance counselors, program directors and students to familiarize themselves with opportunity-specific criteria to determine if they might be a good fit.

We also suggest that applicants take a few moments to familiarize themselves with the online application process prior to beginning the application. A short video and FAQs can be found viewed here. Students interested in applying should use the following link, create an account and begin their application.

Universal Online Application – New For Our 2024 Scholarship Season – Apply/Click Here

Deadline: Applications must be submitted in their entirety no later than March 31, 2024. Only online applications will be accepted. If you have not yet been accepted to a college or university, please do not apply at this time.

All scholarships awarded are made payable to the student’s college/university. Scholarship aid from the Community Foundation of New Jersey is conditioned on the school the student will attend agreeing that the aid should be applied to the student’s unmet need or loans first. If after all need has been met scholarship monies remain, it may be used to displace school provided aid in the following progression: work study and then grants.

Questions: Please contact Colleen Smith, Scholarship Program Officer at csmith@cfnj.org.