SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3387

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 4, 2026

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3387.

     As reported, this bill permits a member of the New Jersey National Guard to transfer a certain tuition benefit to the member’s spouse or child. 

     Under current law, any member of the New Jersey National Guard is permitted to attend courses at any public institution of higher education and receive up to 16 credits per semester tuition-free, provided that the member has:

     (1)   completed Initial Active Duty Training and is in good standing as an active member of the New Jersey National Guard;

     (2)   been accepted to pursue a course of undergraduate study and is enrolled as an undergraduate student in good standing at that institution, or a course of graduate study and is enrolled as a graduate student in good standing at that institution;

     (3)   applied for all available State student grants and scholarships and all available federal student grants and scholarships for which the member is eligible; and

     (4)   applied for certain federal tuition benefits available through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

     The bill permits any member of the New Jersey National Guard, who is eligible for the tuition benefit available under current law, to transfer the benefit to a spouse or dependent child, provided that the spouse or child:

     (1)   has been accepted to pursue a course of undergraduate study and is enrolled as an undergraduate student in good standing at that institution, or a course of graduate study and is enrolled as a graduate student in good standing at that institution; and 

     (2)   has applied for all available State student grants and scholarships and all available federal student grants and scholarships for which the spouse or child is eligible. 

     The bill provides that a member may only transfer the benefit to one person.

     Under the bill, a spouse receiving a transferred tuition benefit is eligible to receive up to 16 credits per semester tuition-free at a public institution of higher education.  The bill further provides that a dependent child receiving a transferred tuition benefit is eligible to receive up to eight credits per semester tuition-free.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill may result in a revenue loss to public institutions of higher education in the State stemming from the bill’s expansion of the New Jersey National Guard tuition benefit eligibility to qualifying spouses and dependent children, to the extent that the expanded eligibility results in increased participation in the program.  Based on the enactment of a substantially similar law in Michigan in 2023, the OLS estimates that the annual revenue loss to public institutions of higher education would be no more than $4.5 million. 

      To the extent that the State appropriates additional funds to cover the program expansion provided by the bill, the public institutions of higher education may experience an offsetting revenue increase.