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A2098
ASSEMBLY, No. 2098
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Bagolie, Assemblyman Rodriguez, Assemblywomen
Speight, Swain, Morales, Park and Assemblyman Tully
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes limits on transcript release restrictions
at institutions of higher education and certain proprietary institutions.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the withholding of student transcripts by
institutions of higher education and certain proprietary institutions and
supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
�����
1.�� As
used in this act:
�����
�Current or former student� means a person who at any time enrolled in a
course offered by an institution, including a student taking a leave of absence
from the institution.
����� �Debt� means any money,
obligation, claim, or sum, due or owing, or alleged to be due or owing, from a
current or former student
.� Debt shall
include, but not be limited to, an outstanding balance on the account of a
current or former student.� Debt shall
not include the fee, if any,
charged to all students for the actual costs of providing the transcripts
.
����
�Institution� means
an institution of higher
education or proprietary institution licensed to offer academic degrees
.
���� �Non-mandatory
charges� means all charges and fees imposed by an institution on a student
other than tuition, room and board, and mandatory student fees and charges, as
defined by the Secretary of Higher Education
.
�����
2.��
a.� (1)� Except as otherwise provided in subsection
c. of this section, if a current or former student meeting the criteria
enumerated in paragraph (2) of this subsection requests a transcript, an
institution shall not, due to an outstanding
debt
on a current or former student�s account
of
$2,000 or less of non-mandatory charges
:�
����
(a)
�� refuse to provide a transcript for a current or former
student on the grounds that the student owes a debt;
����
(b)��
condition the provision of a transcript on the payment of a
debt, other than a fee charged to provide the transcript;
����
(c)
�� charge a higher fee for obtaining a transcript, or provide
less favorable treatment of a transcript request because a current or former
student owes a debt; or
����
(d)
�� use transcript issuance as a tool for debt collection.
����
(2)�� The provisions of this section shall only apply to a current or
former student whose credits in a specified payment period were not paid for
using funds received from a federal student aid program under Title IV of the
�Higher Education Act of 1965� (20 U.S.C. s.1070 et seq.) or funds distributed
through any State student financial aid program administered by the Higher
Education Student Assistance Authority, including a student loan issued through
the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program
established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-21.
����� b.�� Except
as otherwise provided in subsection c. of this section, an institution may
condition the provision of a transcript to a student meeting the criteria
enumerated in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section on the student�s
agreement to enter into a good faith repayment plan and submission of the first
payment on that plan if the student owes the institution:
����� (1)� debt
in any amount for unpaid tuition, room and board, or other mandatory student
fees or charges; or
����� (2)� debt
exceeding $2,000 from non-mandatory charges.�
����� c.�� Notwithstanding
the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section to the contrary, an
institution shall not restrict or condition the provision of a transcript to a
student meeting the criteria enumerated in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of
this section who attests that the transcript is needed to apply for new student
loans or to refinance existing student loans.
����� d.�� The
provisions of this section shall not apply to an institution�s provision of
transcripts to students who reside outside of the United States and:
���� (1)�� are
not citizens of the United States or;
���� (2)�� are
current or former students who are or who were previously eligible for federal
student aid or State student financial aid pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2018,
c.12 (C.18A:71B-2.1).
����
3.��� An institution shall provide an official transcript to a current or
former student upon the student�s request for all applicable payment periods in
which:
���� a.���� the
student�s credits obtained in the specified payment period were paid for using
funds received from a federal student aid program under Title IV of the �Higher
Education Act of 1965� (20 U.S.C. s.1070 et seq.) or funds distributed through
any State student financial aid program administered by the Higher Education
Student Assistance Authority, including a student loan issued through the New
Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Loan Program
established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71C-21; and
���� b.��� the
student�s institutional charges incurred for the payment period, as determined
pursuant to federal regulations, were paid for or included in an agreement to
pay, including a loan or a payment plan, at the time of the current or former
student�s request for an official transcript.
���� 4.��� An
institution shall not withhold official transcripts from a current or former
student or take any other adverse action against a student related to debts of
the student that resulted from an error in the institution�s administration of
federal student aid under Title IV of the �Higher Education Act of 1965� (20
U.S.C. s.1070 et seq.) or any fraud or misconduct by the institution or an
employee of the institution.
����� 5.�� A
current or former student may permit a transcript released pursuant to the
provisions of this act to be transmitted to a third-party entity. An
institution releasing a transcript pursuant to the provisions of this act shall
provide a current or former student the option to transmit the transcript to
the current or former student or to a third-party entity.
����� 6.�� A
violation by an institution of the requirements of this act shall constitute an
unlawful practice under P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.), and shall be subject
to all remedies and penalties available pursuant to the provisions of that act.
�������
7.�� Receipt of a transcript by a current or former
student pursuant to the provisions of this act shall not be construed to
forgive any debt owed by the student to an institution and shall not preclude
an institution from:
����� a.�� taking
any action permitted by law to recoup the student�s outstanding debt; or
���� b.��� withholding
the diploma of a student with outstanding debt.
����� 8.�� An
institution shall post its policies concerning transcript release, including
policies concerning transcript release to a current or former student with an
outstanding debt, on the Internet website of the institution.
���� 9.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes
conditions under which an institution of higher education or proprietary
institution licensed to offer academic degrees may refuse to release a
transcript to a student who has an outstanding account balance at the
institution.���
���� Under the bill, if a student
requests a transcript an institution cannot, due to an outstanding balance on a
student�s account of $2,000 or less of non-mandatory charges:�
���� (1)�� refuse to provide a
transcript for a student on the grounds that the student owes a debt;
���� (2)�� condition the provision
of a transcript on the payment of a debt, other than a fee charged to provide
the transcript;
���� (3)�� charge a higher fee for
obtaining a transcript, or provide less favorable treatment of a transcript
request because a student owes a debt; or
���� (4)�� use transcript issuance
as a tool for debt collection.
The above restrictions only apply
to students whose credits in a specified payment period were not paid for using
federal student aid or funds distributed through any State student financial
aid program administered by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority
(HESAA).
���� The bill further provides that
an institution may condition the provision of a transcript to a student whose
credits in a specified payment period were not paid for using federal student
aid or funds distributed through any State student financial aid program on the
student�s agreement to enter into a good faith repayment plan and submission of
the first payment on that plan if the student owes the institution:
���� (1)�� any amount for unpaid
tuition, room and board, or other mandatory student fees or charges; or
���� (2)�� an amount exceeding
$2,000 for non-mandatory charges.�
���� Under the bill, an institution
cannot restrict or condition the provision of a transcript to a student whose
credits in a specified payment period were not paid for using federal student
aid or funds distributed through any State student financial aid program who
attests that the transcript is needed to apply for new student loans or to
refinance existing student loans.�
���� The bill requires an
institution to provide an official transcript to a current or former student
upon the student�s request for all applicable payment periods in which the
current or former student�s credits were paid for using federal student aid or
funds distributed through any State student financial aid program administered
by HESAA and the student�s institutional charges incurred for the payment
period were paid for or included in an agreement to pay at the time of the
current or former student�s request for an official transcript.
���� The bill provides that an
institution cannot withhold official transcripts from a current or former
student or take any other adverse action against a student related to debts of
the student that resulted from an error in the institution�s administration of
federal student aid or any fraud or misconduct by the institution or an
employee of the institution.
���� Under the bill, a student may
permit a transcript be released to a third party entity.� The bill requires an
institution to post its policies concerning transcript release.� The bill
provides that its provisions are not to apply to the release of transcripts to
students who reside outside of the United States.
���� The bill also provides that a
violation by an institution of the bill�s requirements is to constitute an
unlawful practice under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, and is to be subject
to all remedies and penalties available under the provisions of that act.
���� Finally, the bill stipulates
that receipt of a transcript by a current or former student under the bill is
not to be construed to forgive any debt owed by the student to an institution
and does not preclude the institution from taking any action permitted by law
to recoup the student�s outstanding debt or withholding the diploma of a
student with outstanding debt.