NJ S3434

Creates the "Grow NJ Kids Student Loan Voucher Program" within the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to provide monthly vouchers equal to the principal loan repayment amount for eligible student loan borrowers with children in qualified childcare programs.

Eligible borrowers must be New Jersey residents with individual income no greater than $75,000 or household income no greater than $150,000, and must have a child enrolled in a Grow NJ Kids-rated childcare program with a rating of at least three.

Approved childcare programs include licensed child care centers, school- or center-based preschool programs, Head Start programs, and registered family child care providers that have achieved a minimum Grow NJ Kids rating of three.

Participants must notify the authority of changes in tuition, disenrollment, or transfer to a different childcare program, and may nullify their contract by assuming full responsibility for loan repayment.

The State will appropriate funds as necessary to offset loan principal amounts provided through the vouchers, and approved programs must publicize the program within their facilities and on their websites.