SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3222

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 17, 2025

     The Senate Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 3222.

     This bill requires school districts to incorporate instruction on cybersecurity in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in each of the grades nine through 12.  The instruction is to be based on curriculum guidelines established under the bill by the Commissioner of Education in consultation with the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell.  The curriculum guidelines are to provide for a sequential course of study for each of the grades nine through 12 and include various introductory concepts and activities related to cybersecurity.

     Under the bill, the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Economic Development Authority, the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and the New Jersey Presidents’ Council, is to develop a cybersecurity model curriculum for use by four-year institutions of higher education in the State and a cybersecurity model curriculum for use by county colleges in the State.  This model curricula is to assist four-year institutions of higher education and county colleges in developing cybersecurity-related degree programs.  The Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Economic Development Authority, in consultation with the New Jersey Presidents’ Council, are required to develop and distribute to institutions of higher education cybersecurity career pathway marketing materials that provide descriptions of cybersecurity careers and the benefits of pursuing those careers.

     The bill also creates two student loan redemption programs for individuals seeking careers in cybersecurity-related roles.  The Cybersecurity Loan Redemption Program provides $1,000 to program participants for each year of employment in a cybersecurity occupation approved by the Executive Director of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, up to a maximum of four years, for the redemption of a portion of eligible qualifying loan expenses.  Among other requirements enumerated in the bill, a program participant is required to be graduate of an approved cybersecurity degree program at an institution of higher education located in New Jersey and be employed in an approved cybersecurity occupation with an employer located in the State.

     The second loan redemption program, the Cybersecurity Teacher Loan Redemption Program, similarly provides $1,000 to program participants for each year of service as a teacher in a cybersecurity-related subject matter, as determined by the Executive Director of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, up to a maximum of four years, for the redemption of a portion of eligible qualifying loan expenses. Among other requirements enumerated in the bill, a program participant is required to be a teacher of an approved cybersecurity-related subject matter, who is employed by a school district, charter school, or renaissance school project in the State.