2022 New Jersey Revised Statutes
Title 18A - Education
Section 18A:3B-100 - Outreach program for young women and minorities to pursue degrees, careers in STEM.
18A:3B-100 Outreach program for young women and minorities to pursue degrees, careers in STEM.
2. a. The Department of Education, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education and the Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, shall develop and administer an outreach program to encourage young women and minorities to pursue post-secondary degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
b. The department, in developing and administering the outreach program, shall:
(1) provide elementary and secondary school students, especially young women and minorities, with opportunities to increase their exposure to the STEM field;
(2) distribute various printed materials to schools, encouraging young women and minorities to pursue post-secondary degrees and careers in STEM;
(3) organize and conduct mentoring sessions, in which individuals working or pursuing a post-secondary degree in the STEM field engage with elementary and secondary school students;
(4) establish a mentoring program that partners STEM professionals and STEM post-secondary students with elementary and secondary school students;
(5) create programs to increase the recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty in STEM subject areas; and
(6) undertake any other activities the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of Higher Education and the chair of the Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of the outreach program.
For purposes of this act, STEM shall include, but not be limited to, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science.
L.2021, c.239, s.2.
18A:3B-101 Dispersing of information regarding income-contingent student loan repayment programs.
1. a. During the academic semester in which a student is scheduled to graduate, an institution of higher education shall provide each student who has outstanding student loan debt with information on federal and State of New Jersey income-contingent student loan repayment programs. The institution shall provide the student with the information in either:
(1) an in-person exit interview, which may include a remote or virtual interview; or
(2) a document sent to the student both electronically and by regular mail. The Secretary of Higher Education shall prescribe a model format for the document required by this subsection.
b. In addition to information on federal and State income-contingent student loan repayment programs as required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the institution, during the exit interview or in the document, shall provide each student with information on the following:
(1) an estimate of the total amount of the student's loan debt;
(2) an estimate of the potential total payoff amount of the student loans incurred or a range of the total payoff amount; and
(3) an estimate of monthly repayment amounts that a similarly situated borrower may incur, including principal and interest, for that amount of student loan debt.
The information provided pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection shall only pertain to the debt, payoff amount, and monthly repayment amounts certified while the student attended the institution and may include a statement that the estimates and ranges provided are general in nature and not meant as a guarantee or promise of the actual projected amount.
An institution shall not incur liability for any representations made pursuant to this subsection.
L. 2021, c.357.
