SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2844

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 30, 2025

     The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 2844.

     This bill establishes the Jersey Strong Public Service Scholarship Program.  The program is to provide scholarships to eligible students who are employed in a public service sector experiencing critical workforce shortages.

     To be eligible to participate in the program, a student is required to: have graduated from a public or nonpublic high school in the State in the past year or plan to graduate within six months of the date of application; be a resident of the State; be a United States citizen; be employed full-time in a paid position in an eligible public service sector providing, at a minimum, an hourly wage commensurate with the State minimum wage or be placed in an open position in a public service sector; and meet any other minimum qualifications as determined by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority. Placement positions are required to, at a minimum, pay an hourly rate commensurate with the State’s minimum wage.

     The bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce development to establish a list of eligible public service sectors experiencing critical workforce shortages, which may include employment in hospitals or public schools, or employment as a crossing guard or first responder.

     Under the bill, an eligible student who completes one year of full-time employment in a public service sector experiencing critical workforce shortages is to receive a scholarship toward the cost of attendance for study at a public institution of higher education in the State for two academic years, not to exceed $25,000 total. An eligible student who completes two years of full-time employment in a public service sector experiencing critical workforce shortages is to receive a scholarship toward the cost of cost of attendance for study at a public institution of higher education in the State for four academic years, not to exceed $50,000 total.

     To be eligible to receive the scholarship upon completion of each year of full-time employment as required by the program, a program participant is required to: maintain residency in the State; apply and be accepted to a full-time degree granting program at a public institution of higher education; and have applied for all other available forms of State and federal financial aid, excluding loans.

     Finally, the bill stipulates that a program participant’s scholarship be terminated and required to be repaid if a program participant is dismissed from the public institution of higher education for academic or disciplinary reasons, or withdraws from the institution without approval from the authority. The bill also stipulates that the scholarship is to be terminated if the program participant who has received approval from the authority and withdraws due to illness, the illness of a member of the student’s immediate family, or a family emergency, and the program participant would not be required to repay the scholarship. Under the bill, scholarship funds that exceed a program participant’s cost of attendance are permitted to be remitted to the program participant.