Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Applies provisions of “New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act" to proprietary schools and limits eligibility for direct State aid and State student assistance programs under certain circumstances.
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. A four-year public 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 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] 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 or school ;
(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) 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) 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 four-year graduates for both students who live on campus and students who commute;
(13) average student loan indebtedness of six-year graduates for both students who live on campus and students who commute;
(14) average student loan indebtedness of a student who withdraws from the institution or school prior to the completion of a degree program for both students who live on campus and students who commute;
(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; [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; and
(18) the student loan default rate of students with loan indebtedness five years after their departure from the institution or school.
The institution or school shall provide with all paper applications for admission to the institution or school a hard copy of the information prepared pursuant to this section.
b. A four-year public institution of higher education and a proprietary school 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 and a proprietary school 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 and proprietary schools.
d. A four-year public institution of higher education and a proprietary school 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 and a proprietary school shall ensure that the Internet site for submitting an online application to the institution or school contains a link to the institution's or school’s student consumer information report.
f. A four-year public institution of higher education and a proprietary school shall require the parent or guardian of a student applying for admission into the institution or school, 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.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 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. In the event that a proprietary school which has been authorized to offer licensed degree programs does not meet a minimum graduation rate designated by the Secretary of Higher Education, the school shall not be eligible to receive direct State aid in the following academic year. The secretary shall designate a minimum graduation rate, which shall not be below 30 percent.
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 student loan default rate of former students of the school is below a level established by the secretary. The secretary shall designate a maximum student loan default rate for a student cohort five years after the cohort’s departure from school, which shall not exceed 15 percent.
c. The Secretary of Higher Education shall revoke the license to award degrees from a proprietary school that fails to meet the minimum graduation rate or maximum student loan default rate established pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section in six or more years during a ten-year period.
d. The Secretary of Higher Education shall define “graduation rate” and “student loan default rate” for the purposes of this section.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill includes proprietary schools authorized to grant academic degrees within the “New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act," P.L.2009, c.197 (C.18A:3B-43 et seq.). 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 school will also be required to report the student loan default rate of students with loan indebtedness five years after their departure from the school. Under the bill, the Secretary of Higher Education must include the student consumer information reports submitted by proprietary schools within a comparative profile that the secretary already prepares of four-year public institutions of higher education.
This bill prohibits proprietary schools from receiving direct State aid if, in the preceding academic year, the school did not meet a minimum graduation rate designated by the Secretary of Higher Education. The secretary will designate a minimum graduation rate of at least 30 percent. 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 student loan default rate of former students of the school is below a level designated by the secretary. The secretary must designate a student loan default rate of no more than 15 percent five years after a student cohort’s departure from school.
Finally, the secretary is directed to revoke a proprietary school’s license to award degrees if the school fails to meet the minimum graduation rate or maximum student loan default rate established pursuant to the bill in six or more years during a ten-year period.