ASSEMBLY HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 5712
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 12, 2025
The Assembly Higher Education Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5712.
As amended, this bill establishes the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) and a program in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to provide grants to a public institution of higher education for certain aviation and aircraft control related initiatives.
The amended bill establishes the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program. The program is to provide for the redemption of a portion of the qualifying student loan amounts of a program participant for each period of service at an approved site, which is defined as an airport located within the State or operated by a multi-state agency serving the State. To be eligible to participate in the program, an applicant is required to: be a resident of the State; be employed as an air traffic controller at an approved site; and submit an application in a manner and form to be determined by the executive director of HESAA. Under the program, the redemption of qualifying student loan amounts is to amount to 16 percent of the program participant’s qualifying student loan amounts in return for one full year of service at an approved site, an additional 26 percent for a second full year of service, an additional 28 percent for a third full year of service and an additional 30 percent for a fourth full year of service. The total amount of loan redemption under the program is not to exceed $100,000.
The amended bill also establishes a program in the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to provide grants to a public institution of higher education to: participate in the federal Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative; establish a Center for the Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; and establish non-engineering aviation degrees that include instruction in air traffic control and aviation administration.
A four-year public institution of higher education seeking to participate in the program is to submit an application to the secretary in a form and manner prescribed by the secretary. The application is to include confirmation of the institution’s participation in the federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative; the institution’s capacity to support a Center for the Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; the institution’s plan to establish non-engineering aviation degrees that include instruction in air traffic control and aviation administration; the institution’s plan to participate in the federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiatives Program; and any other information the secretary deems necessary. After reviewing applications, the secretary is to select one four-year public institution of higher education to participate in the program. The secretary is to give preference to an institution of higher education located in a county of the first class. A grant recipient is to receive a grant in an amount not to exceed $2.5 million.
If no four-year public institution of higher education applies and qualifies for the program, the secretary is to permit one or more county colleges to submit an application to participate in the program. A county college selected as a grant recipient is required to already be a participant in the federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative and is not to be required to support a Center for the Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. A county college may receive a grant in an amount not to exceed $1 million.
The State currently has two institutions of higher education participating in the federal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative, but there are currently no institutions of higher education participating in the Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative, which trains air traffic controllers. The sponsor also notes that there is both a local and nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers. According to the sponsor, the purpose of the programs established under the bill is to increase the number of highly trained air traffic controllers.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
· require an eligible air traffic controller to commence employment with the Federal Aviation Administration following the effective date of the bill to be eligible for loan redemption under the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program;
· require an applicant to the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program to submit an application within one year of being initially hired as an eligible air traffic controller at an approved site;
· require the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the loan redemption program;
· specify that of the amount appropriated to operate the Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program, no more than five percent may be dedicated to the administrative costs of the program; and
· make a technical change to the title of the bill.