Establishes Allied Health Care Professional Loan Redemption Program.

S3631 1R

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3631

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANDREW ZWICKER

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes Allied Health Care Professional Loan
Redemption Program.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Senate Higher Education Committee
on May 18, 2026, with amendments.

��

An Act
establishing the Allied Health Care Professional Loan
Redemption Program and supplementing chapter 71C of Title 18A of the New Jersey
Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Allied
1
[
Health Care
Professional�
]

health care professional�
1

means an individual who provides professional services and is licensed or
certified in New Jersey by a professional or occupational licensing board or
other State agency, as any of the following: respiratory specialists,
phlebotomists, diagnostic medical sonographers, dieticians, medical
technologists, occupational and physical therapists,
1
athletic
trainers,
1

radiographers, speech language pathologists, home health aides, certified
nursing assistants, advance practice registered nurses, clinical nurse
specialists, medical assistants, respiratory therapists, nutritionists,
radiation therapists, medical secretaries, radiological technologists,
ultrasound technologists, surgical technologists, pharmacy technicians, other
clinical support professionals, culinary professionals, and any other
professionals, except for physicians, identified by the executive director for
inclusion in the program.

���� �Authority� means the Higher
Education Student Assistance Authority.

���� �Eligible qualifying loan
expenses� means the cumulative outstanding balance of student loans covering
the cost of attendance in an undergraduate or graduate degree program offered
by an institution of higher education or other credentialing program offered by
a licensed proprietary institution required to practice in an allied health
care profession at the time the applicant is selected for the program.�
Interest paid or due on qualifying loans that an applicant has taken out for
use in paying the costs of postsecondary education required to practice in an
allied health care profession shall be considered eligible for reimbursement
under the program.

���� �Executive director� means the
executive director of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.

���� �Health care facility� means a
health care facility licensed by the Department of Health pursuant to the
�Health Care Facilities Planning Act,� P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).

���� �Program� means the Allied
Health Care Professional Loan Redemption Program established pursuant to this
act.

���� �Program participant� means an
allied health care professional who contracts with the authority to provide
services at a health care facility, or in the case of an allied health care
professional who is a home health aide provides services in a home, in exchange
for the redemption of eligible qualifying loan expenses.

���� �Qualifying loan� means a
government or commercial loan for the actual costs paid for tuition and
reasonable education and living expenses relating to obtaining a degree or
required credential necessary for an individual to seek employment as an allied
health care professional.

���� �Total and permanent
disability� means a physical or mental disability that is expected to continue
indefinitely or result in death and renders a program participant unable to
perform that person�s service obligation, as determined by the executive director.

���� 2.��� There is established an
Allied Health Care Professional Loan Redemption Program within the Higher
Education Student Assistance Authority.� The program shall provide for the
redemption of a portion of the eligible qualifying loan expenses of program
participants for each year of service as a program participant for up to four
one-year periods.

���� 3.��� To be eligible to
participate in the program, an applicant shall:

���� a.���� be a resident of the
State;

���� b.��� have obtained a degree
or credential in an allied health care professional field; and

���� c.���� agree to practice as an
allied health care professional as a program participant pursuant to the
provisions of this act.

���� 4.��� a.� An allied health
care professional may apply to the authority for loan redemption in such manner
as prescribed by the authority.

���� b.��� A program participant
shall enter into a contract with the authority to participate in the program.�
The contract shall:

���� (1) include the duration of
the program participant�s required service and the total amount of eligible
qualifying loan expenses to be redeemed by the authority in return for service;

���� (2)�� require a program
participant be employed for at least one year in a full-time position in the
State in the allied health care profession for which the individual is licensed
or certified prior to receipt of any loan redemption funds under the program; and

���� (3)�� stipulate that a program
participant has knowledge of and agrees to serve a three-month probationary
period upon the commencement of employment as a program participant.

���� 5.��� a.� A program
participant, as a condition of participation, shall be required to adhere to
performance standards established by the executive director.

���� b.��� The standards shall
include, but not be limited to, requirements that a participant:

���� (1)�� maintain residency in
the State;

���� (2)�� maintain a license or
certification to practice as an allied health care professional in the State;

���� (3)�� remain current with
payments on student loans;

���� (4)�� maintain satisfactory
performance of services rendered; and

���� (5)�� report to the authority,
on a form and in a manner prescribed the by the authority, on the program
participant�s performance of services rendered prior to repayment of the annual
amount eligible for redemption.

���� 6.��� a.� The redemption of
loans under the program shall not exceed an amount, which is to be determined
by the executive director, of principal and interest of eligible qualifying
loan expenses in return for each consecutive full year of service for up to four
one-year periods.�

���� b.��� The executive director
shall determine the total amount of qualifying eligible loan expenses that may
be redeemed under the program.

���� 7.��� a.� The executive
director shall select the program participants from among those applicants who
meet the eligibility criteria established pursuant to section 3 of this act,
subject to available funds.� In the event there are insufficient funds to
select all of the applicants who meet the eligibility criteria, the executive
director shall accord priority to applicants in the following manner:

���� (1)�� applicants who have an
offer of employment at a health care facility or with a home health aide agency;

���� (2)�� applicants employed, or
seeking employment, in an allied health care profession with employee
shortages;

���� (3)�� applicants whose income
is up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level for the year the applicant is
applying for the qualifying loan, as determined by the United States Department
of Health and Human Services;

���� (4)�� applicants whose health
care facility is an acute care hospital or affiliated subsidiary that provides
comprehensive pediatric care, behavioral health care, preventative care, or
primary care services; and

���� (5)�� applicants who graduated
from a high school or postsecondary institution located in the State.

���� b.��� In the event the
executive director is required to select program participants pursuant to the
priority list established under subsection a. of this section and there are
more applicants within a priority category than there are program positions,
the executive director shall select program participants by means of a lottery.

���� 8.��� a.� A program
participant who has entered into a redemption contract with the authority may
nullify that contract by submitting written notification to the authority and
assuming full responsibility for repayment of the full amount of the
participant�s loan or that portion of the loan that has not been redeemed by
the State in return for partial fulfillment of the contract.�

���� b.��� A program participant
seeking to nullify the contract before completing a second full year of service
shall be required to pay 50 percent of the redeemed portion of indebtedness in
not more than one year following nullification of the agreement.

���� c.���� In the case of a
program participant�s death or total or permanent disability, the authority
shall nullify the service obligation of the participant, thereby terminating
the participant�s service obligation; or where continued enforcement of the
contract may result in extreme hardship, the authority may nullify or suspend
the participant�s service obligation.

���� d.��� In no event shall
service for than less a full calendar year entitle the program participant to
any benefits under the program.

���� 9.��� An allied health care
professional who is participating in any other State tuition or loan redemption
program, or in the federally administered National Health Service Corps Loan
Repayment Program, section 338B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
s.254 l-1), shall not be eligible to participate simultaneously in the Allied
Health Care Professional Loan Redemption Program.

���� 10.� The authority shall work
with institutions of higher education and proprietary institutions that offer
degrees and credentials in allied health care professions to ensure that
information on the program is made available to students upon enrollment.

���� 11.� The authority shall
annually submit a report on the program to the Governor and, pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature.� The report shall
be submitted no later than August 1 of each year and shall include, but not be
limited to, the following information for the prior fiscal year:

���� a.���� the total number of
participants receiving loan redemption under the program;

���� b.��� the total amount of loan
redemption provided through the program;

���� c.���� a profile of program
participants, including demographic information and allied health care
professional specialty, information on the employers of program participants,
and the last institutions from which program participants received a degree or
professional credential;

���� d.��� the average annual loan
redemption amount and the five-year average loan redemption amount of program
participants, as applicable;

���� e.���� the total number of
allied health care professionals who have completed the program and remained
licensed or certified to practice in the State; and

���� f.���� the effect of the
program on meeting the demand for labor in allied health care professional
fields in the State.

���� 12.� The authority shall
adopt, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1
et seq.) any rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of
this act.

���� 13.� There is annually
appropriated from the General Fund to the Higher Education Student Assistance
Authority such sums as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

���� 14.� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of
enactment.