Requires four-year public institutions of higher education to provide on website certain information on online degree students and graduate degree students.

A2349

ASSEMBLY, No. 2349

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman WILLIAM F. MOEN, JR.

District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires four-year public institutions of higher
education to provide on website certain information on online degree students
and graduate degree students.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning information provided by four-year
public institutions of higher education and amending P.L.2009, c.197.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 2 of P.L.2009,
c.197 (C.18A:3B-44) is amended to read as follows:

���� 2.��� a.� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall provide for public inspection on its
website comprehensive information on the cost of attendance, the graduation
rates of admitted students, and the faculty of the institution.� The purpose of
the information shall be to maximize the awareness of students and their
families of the costs associated with enrollment in the institution, the
institution's success in ensuring the graduation of its students, and the
composition of the teaching faculty that a student will encounter in his
coursework.� The institution shall post, and annually update, a student
consumer information report on its website that includes:

���� (1)�� overall four-year and
six-year graduation rates;

���� (2)�� four-year and six-year
graduation rates by demographic group;

���� (3)�� four-year and six-year
graduation rates by major;��

���� (4)�� four-year and six-year
graduation rates for student-athletes;

���� (5)�� the student transfer
rate;

���� (6)�� an overview of the
institutions to which former students of that college or university have
transferred prior to the completion of a degree;

���� (7)�� the cost for the current
academic year of attending the institution including tuition, student fees,
room and board, and books and materials;

���� (8)�� a description of the
types of financial assistance offered directly by the institution to both
student-athletes and to students who do not participate in athletic programs at
the institution;

���� (9)�� the percent of
student-athletes who receive financial assistance directly from the institution
and the average value of the assistance and the percent of students who do not
participate in athletic programs at the institution who receive financial
assistance directly from the institution and the average value of the
assistance;

���� (10) the total projected cost
for an incoming freshman to live on campus and complete a degree in four years
[
and
]
,
the
total projected cost for an incoming freshman to commute to school and complete
a degree in four years
, and the total projected cost for an incoming
freshman exclusively enrolled in online education courses to complete a degree
in four years
;

���� (11)� the total projected cost
for an incoming freshman to live on campus and complete a degree in six years
[
and
]
,
the
total projected cost for an incoming freshman to commute to school and complete
a degree in six years
, and the total projected cost for an incoming freshman
exclusively enrolled in online education courses to complete a degree in six
years
;

���� (12)� average student loan
indebtedness of four-year graduates
calculated separately
for
[
both
]
students who
live on campus
[
and
]
,

students who commute
, and students exclusively enrolled in online education
courses
;

���� (13)� average student loan
indebtedness of six-year graduates
calculated separately
for
[
both
]
students who
live on campus
[
and
]
,

students who commute
, and students exclusively enrolled in online education
courses
;�

���� (14)� average student loan
indebtedness of a student who withdraws from the institution prior to the
completion of a degree program
calculated separately
for
[
both
]
students who
live on campus
[
and
]
,

students who commute
, and students exclusively enrolled in online education
courses
;

���� (15)� an overview of the
institution's faculty, including the percentage of faculty employed as a
tenured professor, the percentage of faculty employed as a full-time
non-tenured professor, and the percentage of faculty employed as an adjunct or
visiting professor;

���� (16)� the percentage of
courses taught by each of the different categories of faculty;
[
and
]

���� (17)� an indicator of each
academic department's capacity to serve the students majoring within that
department's programs, as determined by the
[
Commission
on
]

Secretary
of
Higher Education
;

����
(18)� the number and
percentage of students exclusively enrolled in online education courses; and

����
(19)� an overview of the
education courses the institution offers online, including the total number of
courses offered and the course level for each course
.

���� The institution shall provide
with all paper applications for admission to the institution a hard copy of the
information prepared pursuant to this section.

���� b.��� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall conform to the guidelines, criteria, and
format prescribed by the
[
Commission
on
]

Secretary
of
Higher Education in reporting the information required pursuant to this
section.

���� c.���� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall submit its student consumer information
report to the
[
Commission
on
]

Secretary
of
Higher Education for inclusion in a comparative profile of the student
consumer information reports of all four-year public institutions of higher
education.�

���� d.��� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall ensure that the page of its Internet site
which includes its student consumer information report contains a link to the
page of the
[
Commission
on
]

Secretary
of
Higher Education's Internet site that includes the comparative profile
required pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of this act.��

���� e.���� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall ensure that the Internet site for
submitting an online application to the institution contains a link to the
institution's student consumer information report.

���� f.���� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall require the parent or guardian of a
student applying for admission into the institution, or the student if he is an
independent adult, to sign and submit a statement acknowledging that he has
reviewed the institution's student consumer information report.

����
g.��� A four-year public
institution of higher education shall provide for public inspection on its
website comprehensive information on the cost of attendance, the graduation
rates of admitted students, and the faculty of the institution, as similarly
required pursuant to subsection a. of this section and as applicable, for the
institution�s graduate degree programs. The information shall be calculated
separately for students who live on campus, students who commute, and students
exclusively enrolled in online education courses. The information shall be
submitted to the Secretary of Higher Education as part of the institution�s
student consumer information report required pursuant to subsection c. of this
section.

(cf: P.L.2009, c.197, s.2)

���� 2.��� Section 3 of P.L.2009,
c.197 (C.18A:3B-45) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� a.� The
[
Commission on
]

Secretary
of
Higher Education shall issue guidelines and criteria for collecting and
calculating the information required pursuant to section 2 of this act and
shall prescribe a uniform reporting method for posting the information.�

���� b.��� The
[
Commission on
]

Secretary
of
Higher Education shall annually compile the student consumer information
reports submitted pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of this act into a
comparative profile of all four-year public institutions of higher education.�
The
[
commission
]

secretary

shall present the information on its website in a manner that allows college
students and their families to easily compare student consumer information
across institutions.

(cf: P.L.2009, c.197, s.3)

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the 2024-2025 academic
year.

STATEMENT

���� Under the provisions of the
�New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act,� P.L.2009,
c.197 (C.18A:3B-43 et seq.), four-year public institutions of higher education
are required to provide for public inspection on their websites information on
the cost of attendance, the graduation rates of admitted students, and the
faculty of the institution. The purpose of the information is to maximize the
awareness of students and their families of the costs associated with
enrollment in the institution, the institution's success in ensuring the
graduation of its students, and the composition of the teaching faculty that a
student will encounter in his coursework.�

���� This bill amends that law to
require the institutions to also provide the information on students who are
exclusively enrolled in online education courses at the institution, and for
students enrolled in a graduate degree program at the institution.