Education Leaders Celebrate Graduates Who Turned Opportunity Into Achievement Through the State’s EOF Program
1,977 students statewide, including 344 from Rutgers, were recognized for their academic achievement
Sofie Mangru was always determined to become a nurse, even if that meant working a couple of part-time jobs while going to school, so she could be the first in her family to graduate from college.
In May, she will complete her degree from Rutgers School of Nursing practically debt-free, with a 3.54 grade point average and a goal to someday work in a hospital emergency room.
Mangru said the road to graduation became easier with the help of the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF), which provided the guidance, financial support, and the community she needed in college.
On Friday, Mangru was among 1,977 students statewide, including 344 from Rutgers, recognized during a ceremony at Jersey Mike’s Arena for high-achieving scholars of the New Jersey-funded EOF program. As they prepare to graduate, this year’s class makes history as the largest number of students recognized for academic achievement, with each earning grades above 3.2, in the program’s nearly 60-year history.
The state’s top leaders gathered at the venue in Piscataway to celebrate the students who came from all corners of New Jersey, representing 71 campus-based EOF programs from 40 higher education institutions.
“Today Rutgers stands tall as one of the beacons of opportunity and social mobility in higher education,” Rutgers President William F. Tate IV told the graduates. “We have two campuses ranked in the top 10 in the United States for access to social mobility—Newark and Camden. And our New Brunswick campus ranks second in the Big Ten in social mobility.”
The Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) provides financial assistance and support services, including counseling, tutoring, and developmental coursework to students from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. That assistance begins the summer before their first year when the students attend a preparation course. The students have to attend one of 40 participating institutions of higher education in New Jersey. Undergraduate grants range from $200 to $3,050 annually, depending on the type of institution and financial need.
The program was created in New Jersey in 1968 to ensure meaningful access to higher education for those who come from backgrounds of economic and educational disadvantage.
Tate said New Jersey’s EOF follows in the tradition of the federal Morrill Act of 1862, which made it possible for states to establish public colleges across the nation.
“EOF and the Morrill Act are separated by a century, but they are philosophically aligned, parts of the same American project,” Tate said. “The Morrill Act built the institutions that provide access to higher education, and the EOF ensured students could walk through those doors and take advantage of that access.”
Lieutenant Gov. Dale G. Caldwell told the graduates that the Sherrill administration continues to value the program, seeing it as an investment in the state’s future, and has committed $54.8 million in the budget toward EOF.
“For 58 years, we’ve invested in students like you because we have faith in you,” Caldwell said. “We trust in your capacity, your capability, your motivation, and your promise. In the years ahead, as you navigate the peaks and valleys of life and career, I hope you remember that your university, your community, and even your state truly believes in you.”
New Jersey Acting Secretary of Higher Education Margo Chaly said about a half million New Jersey residents have earned their degrees with support from the program.
“Your success exemplifies that when students are seen, supported, and given the resources they need, there’s no limit to what one can achieve,” Chaly told the graduates. “Many of the honorees today are firsts in their families, not just the first to graduate, but the first to become an engineer, a teacher, a social scientist, an accountant, and so much more.”
The graduates also heard from Assemblywoman Carmen Morales representing parts of Essex County, and Martiza Davilla, vice chair of the EOF board of directors and a Paterson council-at-large member.
“You didn’t just graduate, you’re breaking barriers,” said Morales, who shared her story of starting in Newark’s public housing to become the first in her family to graduate from college, and who will earn her doctorate this May. “Education gives you something no one can take away from you. It gives you a voice; it gives you access, and it gives you a choice. I believe it because I have lived it. Education changed the trajectory of my life. It opened doors I didn’t even know existed, and most importantly, it gave me that confidence.”
Davilla, an EOF alumna, echoed Morales’ advice that receiving the degree is not the end of their journey but the beginning of it.
“Opportunity can change everything, it can change the direction of a life, the path of a family,” Julia Sobol, who is receiving her associate’s degree from Ocean County College this year, told her fellow graduates. “But opportunity does not always reach everyone equally, and that’s what EOF does, it closes that gap.”
Another student speaker, Kalitza Remache, who will be graduating from Kean University, admitted that at first she dismissed EOF as a good fit for her.
“When I started the summer academy, I quickly realized it was about preparation,” she said. “It gave me structure for freshman year. It gave me familiar faces before the campus felt overwhelming. It gave me a sense of belonging before I realized how much I would need it. EOF became my foundation.”
Their stories were familiar to Steisy Gomez, who is graduating in May from the School of Environment and Biological Sciences with a 3.66 GPA.
“As a first-generation college student, I didn’t come in with the typical support system,” Gomez said before the ceremony. “When I first started, I was shy and unsure of myself, often holding back from opportunities. SEBS EOF changed that. It pushed me to grow, take risks, and become more confident in who I am and what I am capable of. SEBS EOF has encouraged me to lead, take initiative, travel the world, expand my network, and truly understand that I belong here.”
