At participating colleges, students with adjusted annual gross incomes up to $45,000, who take six or more credits in the spring 2019 semester, will receive the money. The funds will be applied to the balance of the students’ accounts after federal and state aid is deducted.

“If you get three-quarters of the way there, we’re taking you the last quarter of the way home, today,” Murphy said during the news conference.

He said the students will have to maintain academic standards to remain eligible.

“We need to return to the ideal that if you work hard you can get ahead,” Murphy said. “Things like your background or your current economic status should not ever be a road block to success.”

The pilot application specified criteria including the colleges’ plans for outreach to and support for students, how their cost projections fit within statewide funding constraints and geographic diversity.

The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority estimates that the pilot will award money to 13,000 students at the 13 selected institutions. The funding is allocated from the state budget.