Kean University
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Kean has the lowest tuition of any 4-year public institution in New Jersey. We promise equity, access, excellence and affordability in higher education. The Kean Tuition Promise program may cover up to full tuition and fees for eligible incoming freshman students to attend Kean University and fulfill their dream of earning a college degree while graduating with LITTLE TO NO DEBT. (If you are a college student with 60+ accumulated credits, explore the Garden State Guarantee to learn how you may be eligible to complete your degree at Kean tuition-free.)

The Kean Tuition Promise program benefits incoming freshmen with a household adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $65K. The Kean Tuition Gap Grant package will be awarded to students who meet the eligibility requirements; eligible students will have no unpaid balance for tuition and fees – and be able to enroll at Kean tuition-free for years 1 and 2 under the Kean Tuition Promise, and for years 3 and 4 under the Garden State Guarantee. Limited packages are available; students must meet the Eligibility Requirements each year in order to qualify for four years of free tuition.

Together the Kean Tuition Promise and the Garden State Guarantee may provide qualified New Jersey students with a world-class Kean education tuition-free. Unlike loans, grants provide money for your college education that does not need to be repaid.

As part of a longstanding commitment to diversity and equity in higher education, Kean University announced today it is the first university in New Jersey to join Moon Shot for Equity, a national network of colleges and universities committed to eliminating equity gaps in higher education by 2030. Facilitated by EAB, a Washington D.C.-based education firm, Moon Shot for Equity promotes 15 research-based best practices designed to remove systemic barriers to student success and ensure that all students persist to graduation.

In addition, Kean University has joined a partnership launched by the state Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) to engage adults who left college without earning a degree and encourage them to resume their studies and graduate.

More than 750,000 New Jersey residents have some college credit but no degree, according to OSHE. Through the Some College, No Degree program, Kean and 16 other colleges and universities in the state will work to identify, reach and engage those students.

“Kean University is committed to encouraging all students to achieve their greatest potential – to earn their degrees and to achieve success in whatever they dream,” said Kean President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D. “This important partnership is another tool to accomplish that.”

There are many reasons that students make the decision to leave college, including financial hardship, shifting career goals, and family needs.

Kean Senior Vice President for Administration Michael Salvatore, Ph.D., said recent data compiled by the University’s Division of Strategic Analytics and Data Illumination showed more than 13,000 students left Kean in the past twenty years without attaining a degree from any institution.

Kean's admissions unit and transformational learning team will work with ReUp, an education company contracted by OSHE, to engage adult learners who had a disruption in their life plans and had to put their dreams of finishing college on hold, he said.

“This process of re-engagement is different because their existing life circumstances are examined and degree paths are matched accordingly,” Salvatore said.

“At Kean, we realize the value of a degree, and it’s not just increased earnings in a lifetime,” he said. “We want to help people meet their potential in the classroom, but more importantly in their lives, and it’s never too late to start.”

The partnership supports the state’s goal of having 65 percent of working-age New Jerseyans achieve a high-quality credential by 2025.

“By investing in the statewide Some College, No Degree initiative and partnering with the right groups to implement this important program, we are helping smooth the transition for adult learners who left college – even years ago – and are now going back to complete their degrees,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Brian K. Bridges, Ph.D., said helping adult learners return to college and complete their degrees will be life-changing for them and their families.

“As we have expanded affordable pathways to college, through programs like the New Jersey College Promise, we want adult learners to realize the new opportunities available since they last attended,” he said.