The Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program was established in June 2007 when the Rutgers-New Brunswick liberal arts colleges’ EOF Programs (Douglass College, Livingston College, Rutgers College, and University College) were consolidated. The SAS EOF Program is the largest in New Jersey, serving over 1300 EOF students in the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, Mason Gross School of the Arts, the School of Management and Labor Relations, and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
The SAS EOF Program embodies the original spirit and intent of the legislation that created the New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund program in 1968, and reflects Rutgers University’s standing as The State University of New Jersey, and a comprehensive public research university. The SAS EOF Program is committed to providing access and opportunity to students who demonstrate potential for success and a high level of academic motivation, and who qualify for admission on the basis of academic and financial need. From first enrollment through graduation, students admitted to the School of Arts and Sciences EOF Program are required to meet Program guidelines to maintain their eligibility. These include successful completion of the Summer Institute, maintaining an on-going active relationship with their assigned counselor, and participation in academic support efforts, such as, tutoring, creating an academic plan, interpersonal skills-building activities, workshops, educational enrichment activities, and career exploration.
The EOF Program offers financial and academic assistance to low-income New Jersey residents who show potential and exhibit evidence of academic and/or creative promise, but who lack adequate educational and financial resources for college.
We believe that going to college is not just about earning a degree, but about evolving into a well-informed and well-rounded individual. We seek students who understand that with education comes great responsibility—responsibility to ourselves, our communities, and our world.
EOF set the pace for many initiatives which today are widely incorporated into college life. Among the many powerful strategies implemented by EOF are precollege articulation, basic skills testing and remediation, systematic retention efforts, peer counseling and peer tutoring, academic support courses, multicultural curricula and human relations programming, student leadership development, and outcomes-based program evaluation.
All students admitted to the School of Arts & Sciences are encouraged to develop an appreciation of diversity, inquiry, civic engagement, community/social responsibility, and leadership. SAS EOF Scholars are expected to prepare themselves for life after Rutgers University. Toward this end, the Program places special emphasis on providing EOF Scholars with support and experiences designed to aid them in developing the capability to participate fully in every aspect of the college experience, and moving them toward graduate education programs, professional schools, and rewarding careers.
