S3683

An Act concerning information provided by institutions of higher education and supplementing and amending P.L.2009, c.197.

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

1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. According to the Institute for College Access & Success, New Jersey ranks in the top five states nationally for student loan debt amounts, with the average graduate leaving college approximately $34,000 in debt;

b. Despite New Jersey students graduating with significant debt, there is insufficient publicly-available demographic information on the State’ over one million student loan borrowers;

c. The demographic information that is available, however, shows significant racial disparities in student loan outcomes. Borrowers in New Jersey’s communities of color face default rates two- to -five times higher than white borrowers in the State;

d. Even after factoring in financial aid, the average price of attendance at New Jersey’s four-year public institutions of higher education represents about one-third of household income for the State’s Black and Latino families, compared to just 17 percent of the State’s white families;

e. Stark differences in family wealth in New Jersey have resulted in enormous disparities for students based on race and ethnicity relating to their financial need for college and their ability to pay off student loans;

f. The development and implementation of informed policy to understand and address issues related to student loan debt, including related racial disparities in outcomes, requires access to reliable State-level data on how borrowers experience their debt burden; and

g. Expanding data collection and dissemination of information is crucial for understanding the extent of the burgeoning student debt crisis in particular communities in the State and for developing policies that prioritize equity in loan outcomes for borrowers.

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

2. a. [A four-year public] An 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, if applicable:

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

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

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

(4) two-year and three-year graduation rates for student-athletes, and 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 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) 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 shall disaggregate the data by: race, ethnicity, age, income, 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 shall disaggregate the data by: race, ethnicity, age, income, gender, and first-generation status;

(14) average student loan indebtedness of a student who transfers or withdraws from the institution 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, income, gender, and first-generation status;

(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 borrowers of the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students (NJCLASS) Program and the number and percentage of students with other forms of student loans; and

(19) for each three-year cohort of students who have graduated, transferred, or withdrawn from the institution prior to graduation, beginning with the first cohort following the enactment of P.L. c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and for each three-year cohort thereafter, the default rate of the borrowers, the number and percentage of NJCLASS borrowers in repayment, and the number and percentage of NJCLASS borrowers in default, disaggregated by the race, ethnicity, age, income, gender, and first-generation status.

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] An 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] An 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.

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. [A four-year public] 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 [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] An 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] An 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.

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

3. 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)

4. This act shall take effect in the first full academic year following the date of enactment.

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, student loan indebtedness, 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 students will encounter in their coursework.

This bill amends that law to require institutions to disaggregate student loan indebtedness information according to demographics including the race, ethnicity, age, income, gender, and first-generation status.

The bill amends the law to require all institutions of higher education to include the data on their websites.

The bill also requires institutions to include in their report:

(1) the number and percentage of NJCLASS borrowers and the number and percentage of students with other forms of student loans; and

(2) for each three-year cohort of students who have graduated, transferred, or withdrawn from the institution prior to graduation, beginning with the first cohort following the enactment of the bill, and for each three-year cohort thereafter, the default rate of the borrowers, the number and percentage of NJCLASS borrowers in repayment, and the number and percentage of NJCLASS borrowers in default, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, income, gender, and first-generation status.