ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — It's tough paying for college. It's even tougher when you're struggling to put food on the table. And that's why the state's "tuition-free" initiative is so important to students at Essex County College, administrators say.

At Essex County College, which has campuses in Newark and West Caldwell, more than seven out of 10 students qualify for federal financial aid. These students recently got a big boost from a pilot program launched under Gov. Phil Murphy – the Community College Opportunity Grant (CCOG) – which provides free tuition for families making less than $45,000 per year. See related article: New Jersey's 'Tuition-Free' College Program Expands But while the CCOG is a great first step, administrators at Essex County College are trying to kick things up a notch, the school announced last week.

For example, the college retroactively qualified hundreds of students from the Spring 2019 semester who met the state's CCOG eligibility criteria. That move alone has saved students $500,000 to date, administrators said. The college also launched a "Spring Special Semester" for CCOG-eligible students. The session, which runs from May 28 to June 20, offers classes in an online and hybrid format so that e-Books can be included at no additional cost to students.

No decision for the continuance of the CCOG past June 2019 has been made on the state level. But Essex County College administrators are hopeful that the pilot program will get the chance to further spread its wings. "Our residents in Essex County – especially in cities such as Newark, Irvington, East Orange and Orange – continue to face so many challenges, such as lack of higher education which leads to them being economically disadvantaged," Essex County College President Anthony Munroe said.

Munroe advocated for raising the income eligibility criteria above the current $45,000 cutoff, which would help more students – including working adults looking to reboot their careers – get into the classroom.

"Image how many could take advantage of an expanded CCOG program," Munroe said.

WANT TO ATTEND COLLEGE FOR FREE? Here's how the program works, according to Gov. Murphy's office: