Eligibility Criteria

1. The applicant must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States and New Jersey.

2. The applicant must be between 16 - 19 years of age. The applicant may enter at 19 years of age, however, they may not turn 20 while enrolled in the Academy.  NOTE:  The 19 year old age limit will expire on September 30, 2010. This means that all enrollees for the next class of the ChalleNGe Academy (which begins October 2010) must be between 16-18 years of age by day 15 of the Residential Phase.

3. The applicant must be free from legal involvements; including probation, parole or any pending court matters.

4. The applicant must be drug and alcohol free.  Academy participants will be drug-tested while enrolled in the Academy.

5. The applicant must enter the academy voluntarily.

6. The applicant must be officially withdrawn from High School.
A mandatory drug screen will be conducted either on In-Processing Day or during the Pre-ChalleNGe phase of the academy (Weeks #1 - 2).  Applicants may not enter the Hard Core ChalleNGe Phase if they test positive for the presence of illegal drugs.