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H5026 • 2025

An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts

An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts

Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Higher Education (J)
Last action
2026-02-02
Official status
Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts

An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts Status: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means

What This Bill Does

  • An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts Status: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-02 House

    Reported from the committee on Higher Education

  2. 2026-02-02 House

    New draft of H1449

  3. 2026-02-02 House

    Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means

Official Summary Text

An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts
Status:
Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
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Bill H.5026

SECTION 1. Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 19G the following section:-

Section 19H.

(a) Institutions of higher education shall not withhold a student's official academic transcripts for any academic credits and grades for any course for which a student’s tuition and mandatory course fees are paid in full. An institution may withhold official transcripts for academic credits and grades for any course for which a student's tuition and mandatory course fees are not paid in full. For students paying on a per semester basis, such an institution may withhold a student’s academic credits or grades for any course taken in a semester for which that student’s tuition and mandatory course fees have not been paid.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an institution of higher education from withholding a student's diploma or degree due to that student's failure to pay any loan payments, fines, fees, tuition, or other expenses owed to the institution.

(c) This section shall apply to all postsecondary institutions including: (i) the system of public institutions of higher education, established in section 5; (ii) private occupational schools, as defined in section 263 of chapter 112; and (iii) private colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning.

(d) The department of higher education shall promulgate regulations consistent with this section necessary for its implementation.

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