Two high school juniors in New Jersey have raised more than $63,000 to help Rutgers University students struck by sudden financial hardships.

Alex Sonageri and Adam Schwartz placed jars in supermarkets and used a PowerPoint presentation to solicit donations from about 15 businesses for the scholarship. Four students so far will receive a semester’s worth of tuition. They include a woman who nearly withdrew because of the cost of a 52-week chemotherapy treatment for a cancerous cyst.

The 17-year-olds, who attend North Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, hope to raise $100,000 so they can endow the fund. The boys aren’t sure where they’d like to go to college, but they’re not ruling out Rutgers.

Read all about their efforts to raise private scholarship funding!

In 1993, as a sophomore at Rutgers University, Marc Milecofsky dropped out of school to focus on his expanding clothing business. Although he had no business plan or funding there was high demand at shops and street fairs for his spray painted T-shirts, sweatshirt, and jackets. With a dream, persistence, and savvy marketing, this Jewish kid from Lake Wood, New Jersey went on to create Ecko Enterprises, the biggest company in the global urbanwear market, topping Diddy’s Sean John and Jay-Z’s Rocawear with revenues of over $1.5 billion per year.

Sixteen years after dropping out of college, Marc Ecko will finally complete another important chapter in his life, obtaining his college degree as Rutgers is set to honor the mogul with an honorary degree this spring.

Marc Ecko is profiled in the March 2009 issue of Inc. Magazine, it is an interesting (and inspiring) must-read for anyone interested in a good rags-to-riches business story.

Appearing at Rutgers University on December 6th are New Jersey’s own Paulson.

The quintuplet from Midland Park recently released their third full length album “All At Once” and will close out their national tour with a special homecoming concert for Rutgers University.

Fan of hellogoodbye, Say Anything, Cartel, Pinback or Copeland will like Paulson and if you haven’t seen their latest video, “Calling on You” then check it out after the jump.

The Rutgers show isn’t exclusively for Rutgers students so if you are in the area I would highly suggest you jump in the car check them out.

Watch “All at Once” after the jump! (more…)