Creates Task Force on Higher Education Governance and Funding; appropriates $200,000.

S3788 1R

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3788

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JOSEPH P. CRYAN

District 20 (Union)

Senator� SHIRLEY K. TURNER

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Diegnan and McKnight

SYNOPSIS

���� Creates Task Force on Higher Education Governance and
Funding; appropriates $200,000.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Senate Higher Education Committee
on March 16, 2026, with amendments.

��

An Act
establishing the
Task Force on Higher Education
Governance and Funding, and making an appropriation.�

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

���� 1.��� a.� There is established
the Task Force on Higher Education Governance and Funding.� The purpose of the
task force is to examine the State�s system of higher education, including its
organization, governance, and funding mechanisms.� The task force shall develop
recommendations that align with the State�s higher education priorities.�

���� b.��� The task force shall
consist of 13 members as follows:

���� (1)�� the Secretary of Higher
Education, ex officio, or a designee;

���� (2)�� the Executive Director
of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, ex officio, or a
designee;

���� (3) two public members
appointed by the President of the Senate, both of whom shall have substantive
experience in higher education administration, public policy, or educational
research relating to higher education governance and funding;

���� (4) two public members
appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, both of whom shall have
demonstrated expertise in institutional accountability, fiscal management of
institutions of higher education, student access and equity in higher
education, or industry and workforce development in higher education; and

���� (5) seven members appointed by
the Governor, including: the president of a public research university, or a
designee; the president of a State college or university that is a member of
the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, or a designee;
the president of a county college, or a designee; the president of an
independent institution of higher education, or a designee; the president of
the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, or a designee;
1
[
and
]
1

the president of the Council of New Jersey State College Locals, or a designee
1
; and
a representative of the New Jersey Education Association
1
.

���� 2.��� Appointments to the task
force shall be made within 60 days of the effective date of this act. Vacancies
in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the
original appointments were made.� Members of the task force shall serve without
compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in
the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits
of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its
purposes.

���� 3.��� a. The task force shall
organize no later than 60 days following the effective date of this act and
shall be required to meet regardless of whether all members have been appointed
as of that date.�

���� b. The Secretary of Higher
Education shall serve as interim chairperson of the task force until all
members have been appointed, at which time the task force shall choose a
chairperson from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not
be a member of the task force.

�����
c.� The task force
shall hold at least one public hearing no later than six months after the
organization of the task force.

���� 4.��� The Office of the
Secretary of Higher Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and
other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the task force
requires to carry out its work.� The task force also shall be entitled to call
to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any
State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as
it may require and as may be available for its purposes.�

���� 5.��� It shall be the duty of
the task force to examine the governance and funding of the State�s system of
higher education.� The task force may utilize the assistance of an external
consultant to meet its research needs. �In conducting its work, the task force
shall assess the system�s ability to meet the current challenges facing
institutions of higher education, and to recommend to the Legislature specific
data-driven criteria and approaches to adequately, equitably, and stably fund
public institutions of higher education, through:

���� a.� an in-depth examination of
the organizational structure of each institution of higher education in the
State, including an analysis of the role and impact of their governing boards;

���� b.� an analysis of the role
and impact of State entities that provide oversight, guidance, and support� to
the State�s institutions of higher education;

���� c.� the identification and
evaluation of State statutory and regulatory requirements, including any
required submissions of data and reports,� imposed upon institutions of higher
education, degree-granting proprietary institutions, the Office of the Secretary
of Higher Education, and the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority;

���� d.� an analysis of the funding
made available by the State to fulfill State statutory and regulatory
requirements and the amount of funding which institutions of higher education
and degree-granting proprietary institutions expend to fulfill those requirements;

���� e.� an analysis of the
institutions� funding mechanisms and the impact of funding mechanisms on tuition
and student and institution outcomes including, but not limited to, a review of
State operating aid� as a percentage of the operating budget of each public
institution of higher education beginning in fiscal year 2000 and in each
fiscal year thereafter;

���� f. the development of a master
calendar that identifies the dates or timelines of all major reporting
requirements for institutions of higher education within State and federal
regulations;

���� g. an analysis of the mission
statements of the State�s institutions of higher education, and whether
resources at these institutions are effectively utilized and promoting these
mission statements;

���� h. a review of the
relationships between county colleges and other institutions of higher
education;

���� i. an assessment of the extent
to which institutions of higher education are meeting the State�s workforce
needs;

���� j. an analysis of the effects
of the change in higher education governance structure in the State since the
abolishment of the Department of Higher Education in 1994; and

���� �k.� the identification and
recommendation of best practices utilized in New Jersey and other states in the
areas of higher education governance and funding including, but not limited to,
best practices that may address:

���� (1) State funding options to
annually support the operating and critical auxiliary needs of institutions of
higher education, including capital construction and deferred maintenance, and
the extent to which other states issue bonds or incur other forms of debt to
support those needs;

���� (2) the use of annual capital
budgeting;

���� (3) the percentage of
State-funded employment positions at each public institution of higher
education in the State relative to that institution�s total employment, and the
extent to which other states support fringe benefits of employees of public
institutions of higher education;

���� (4) the availability of
supplemental State support through grant programs and other funding
opportunities;

���� (5) the appropriate governance
structure of the State�s higher education institutions; and

���� (6) the identification of any
regulatory or other barriers that limit or prevent� the realization of cost
efficiencies through joint purchasing, shared services, and other cost-saving
opportunities for collaboration among institutions of higher education.�

���� 6.��� a.�� The task force
shall issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor,
and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1),
no later than one year after the task force organizes.�

���� b.��� The task force shall
expire 30 days after the issuance of its final report.

�����
7.� There is appropriated from the General Fund to the
Office of the Secretary of Higher Education the sum of $200,000 for the needs
of the task force.� The secretary may, upon the recommendation of the task
force, use these funds to hire, contract, or partner with subject matter
experts as may be necessary and appropriate.

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