Bro holy shit

I just checked and there's no monthly pass option for students. My student account gets a 25% discount on monthly passes. Strangley enough I just had to go through the steps to reactivate it since it's per semester and only for monthly passes which I haven't been using. Anyways the monthly pass option disappeared once my discount took into effect again.

Moreover

A monthly pass from Newark Penn to Newark Airport at the regular rate is $82.00

The standard ticket is $11

So technically the monthly pass, for regular people, will pay for itself in only 8 uses, however, this is just from Penn to the Airport, a 5 minute ride.

However again, if you were to increase the distance say, from Newark Airport to Netherwood Station 30 minutes away in Plainfield, the monthly price is $183, the same exact monthly price as it would be from Newark Penn to Netherwood Station.

This info doesn't help me, I don't think? But it's interesting nonetheless and you were right to point out monthly passes