Yes, two points, with more fine print per point than any state in the country. Let's clear the three big misunderstandings in order.
First, it's 2 points, not 3. New Jersey's MVC-approved online defensive driving course earns a 2-point reduction, once every five years. The 3-point figure floating around belongs to a different program, the Driver Improvement Program, which is classroom-only and which you don't choose. The MVC initiates it for drivers sitting at 12 to 14 points, the edge of suspension. If a website is promising 3 points off from an online course in New Jersey, close the tab.
Second, you need points to remove points. The 2-point credit only applies if you have at least 2 points on your record when you complete the course. A clean-record driver who takes the course banking a credit against a future ticket gets nothing; the credit can't go negative and it can't be stored. Time the course after the points exist, not before.
Third, no, it won't dismiss your ticket. New Jersey has no online-course dismissal mechanism, full stop. The ticket, the fine, and the conviction all stand, and your insurer sees them. What the course touches is the aftermath: the point total the state uses, since MVC surcharges start at 6 points in three years, and your premium, which brings us to the actual quiet value here.
New Jersey law mandates an insurance discount for completing the course: at least 5%, up to 10% depending on carrier, for three years, claimable once every three years. On New Jersey premiums, among the highest in the country, that's real money. Our data puts a typical 10-over ticket at a $96 fine and roughly $4,869 in three-year insurance exposure as a ceiling estimate, the widest fine-to-insurance gap of any state we track. A $35 course won't erase that, but a mandated discount working against the country's most expensive premiums is the best partial hedge on offer, and plenty of clean-record New Jerseyans should take the course for the discount alone.
One piece of process that trips people constantly: the point credit and the discount travel by different roads. Your course provider reports your completion to the MVC within 7 to 10 business days, and the MVC will not accept a certificate you mail in yourself. The insurer is the opposite: you send your certificate to them to claim the discount. Provider handles the state, you handle the insurance company.
Every MVC-approved online course we track is compared on the New Jersey page.