SENATE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3519

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 18, 2019

     The Senate Higher Education Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3519 with committee amendments.

     As amended, this bill provides that any person who successfully completes a course at a county fire academy will receive college credit for the course at a four-year public institution of higher education that offers a fire science degree program if: (1) the institution determines after a review of the curriculum of the course offered by the county fire academy that the curriculum is similar to the curriculum of a course offered in its fire science program; and (2) upon completion of the course, the person successfully completes an examination approved by the  institution.  Under the bill, the institution must waive any credit-by-exam fee that it may charge.

     The bill also directs the county fire academies to work jointly with four-year public institutions of higher education that offer a fire science degree program to identify courses at the county fire academies which offer a curriculum similar to that of courses included in the  fire science programs of those institutions.

      A similar tuition benefit is currently available under section 2 of P.L.2005, c.217 (C.18A:64A-80) to students enrolled in county colleges who successfully complete a course at a county fire academy.

      The committee made a technical amendment to the bill. 

      As amended and reported by the committee, this bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 5263(1R), which also was reported by the committee on this same date.