Applies provisions of "New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act" to proprietary schools and limits eligibility for State student assistance programs to students enrolled in certain proprietary schools.

S3361

SENATE, No. 3361

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� SHIRLEY K. TURNER

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

SYNOPSIS

���� Applies provisions of �New Jersey College Student and
Parent Consumer Information Act" to proprietary schools and limits
eligibility for State student assistance programs to students enrolled in
certain proprietary schools.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning proprietary schools, amending
P.L.2009, c.197, and supplementing chapter 3B of Title 18A of the New Jersey
Statutes.

����
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. An institution of higher
education
and a proprietary school which has been authorized to offer
licensed degree programs
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
or school
,
the institution's
or school�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
or school
shall post, and
annually update, a student consumer information report on its website that
includes, if applicable:

���� (1) overall three-year,
four-year, and six-year graduation rates, as applicable;

���� (2) three-year, four-year, and
six-year graduation rates by demographic group, as applicable;

���� (3) three-year, four-year, and
six-year graduation rates by major, as applicable;

���� (4) three-year, four-year, and
six-year graduation rates for student-athletes, as applicable;

���� (5) the student transfer rate;

���� (6) an overview of the
institutions to which former students of that
[
college
or university
]

institution or school
have transferred prior to the completion of a
degree;

���� (7) the cost for the current
academic year of attending the institution
or school

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
or school
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

or school
and the average value of the assistance and the percent of
students who do not participate in athletic programs at the institution
or
school
who receive financial assistance directly from the institution
or
school
and the average value of the assistance;

���� (10) for four-year
institutions of higher education, 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;

���� (11) for four-year
institutions of higher education, 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;

���� (12) average student loan
indebtedness of two-year and four-year graduates for both students who live on
campus and students who commute, as applicable.� The institution
or school

shall disaggregate the data by: race, ethnicity, age, family income at the time
of admission, gender, and first-generation status;

���� (13) average student loan
indebtedness of three-year and six-year graduates for both students who live on
campus and students who commute, as applicable.� The institution
or school

shall disaggregate the data by: race, ethnicity, age, family income at the time
of admission, gender, and first-generation status;

���� (14) average student loan
indebtedness of a student who transfers or withdraws from the institution
or
school
prior to the completion of a degree program for both students who
live on campus and who commute. The institution shall disaggregate the data by:
race, ethnicity, age, family income at the time of admission, gender, and
first-generation status;

���� (15) an overview of the
institution's
or school�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;

���� (17) an indicator of each
academic department's capacity to serve the students majoring within that
department's programs, as determined by the Secretary of Higher Education; and

���� (18) the number and percentage
of borrowers for whom the institution
or school
has certified a
supplemental student loan, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, family income
at the time of admission, gender, and first-generation status.

���� The institution
or school

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

���� b.��� An institution of higher
education shall conform to the guidelines, criteria, and format prescribed by
the Secretary of Higher Education in reporting the information required
pursuant to this section.

���� c.���� An institution of
higher education
and a� proprietary school
shall submit its student
consumer information report to the Secretary of Higher Education for inclusion
in a comparative profile of the student consumer information reports of all
institutions of higher education
and� proprietary schools
.

���� In addition to the information
contained in the institutional student consumer information reports pursuant to
this section, the comparative profile shall identify the existence of any
racial disparities in student loan indebtedness and loan default rates.

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

���� e.���� An institution of
higher education
and a� proprietary school
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.���� An institution of
higher education
or school
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�
or school�s
student consumer information
report.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.349, 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
and
proprietary schools authorized to offer licensed degree programs
. �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
and schools
.

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

���� 3.��� (New section)� a.� A
proprietary school which has been authorized to offer licensed degree programs
shall not be eligible to receive direct State aid.

���� b.��� A student enrolled in a
proprietary school authorized to offer licensed degree programs shall not be
eligible to receive any form of student assistance from the State, including
grants and scholarships, unless the proprietary school meets a specified
graduation rate to be determined by the Secretary of Higher Education.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill prohibits proprietary
schools from receiving direct State aid. �The bill further provides that a student
enrolled in a proprietary school will not be eligible to receive any form of
student assistance from the State unless the school meets a specified
graduation rate to be determined by the Secretary of Higher Education.�

���� The bill also included
proprietary schools within the �New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer
Information Act."� Specifically, the bill provides that each such
proprietary school will have to annually disclose on its website various
measures of student graduation rates, school costs, and student loan
indebtedness, among other indicators of school quality.� The bill also directs
the Secretary of Higher Education to include the student consumer information
reports submitted by proprietary schools within a comparative profile that it
already prepares of four-year public institutions of higher education.�