EOF Eligibility Requirements and Candidate Selection Process

EOF Eligibility Requirements and Candidate Selection Process

The New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) provides financial assistance and support services (e.g. counseling, tutoring, and developmental coursework) to students from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds who attend participating institutions of higher education in the State of New Jersey.

Selection for this program is not guaranteed and depends on a combination of financial, academic, and institutional factors (including limited space availability), as EOF enrollment goals vary across the multiple but distinct undergraduate schools within the Rutgers system.

Financial eligibility is based on documented, verifiable income and assets. Specifically, you and your family’s income and assets must fall within the financial criteria shown on the scale below.

EOF Income Eligibility Scale with Asset Cap Calculation 2023-2024

In addition to meeting the financial criteria, candidates for EOF must also meet the following requirements:

EOF provides access to higher education for students from families/communities disadvantaged by low income and lack of access to quality educational preparation necessary to attend college. Candidates may be withdrawn from EOF consideration if they do not demonstrate educational disadvantage.

Candidates may be determined ineligible and/or not referred for EOF program consideration if they do not meet both the financial and the academic criteria for EOF admission in the context of institutional goals specific to the school at Rutgers to which they are applying.

The Admissions Profile indicates the academic profile of admitted students; the approximate SAT and ACT score ranges and grade-point averages for the middle 50% of high school students regularly admitted to Rutgers for fall 2023.

Please note: "Middle 50%" means that 25% of regularly admitted first-year students exceeded these ranges and 25% had scores and grade-point averages below these ranges. Rutgers conducts a holistic review of each student's application that takes into consideration many factors beyond test scores and cumulative grade-point average.