Bill > A352

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Secretary of Higher Education to issue guidelines incorporating the best practices within the United States Government Accountability Office's report, "Financial Aid Offers: Action Needed to Improve Information on College Costs and Student Aid" (GAO Report) for use by institutions of higher education and proprietary institutions licensed to offer academic degrees. The purpose of this bill is to address the transparency issues identified in the GAO Report. The GAO Report found: 1) 91 percent of institutions of higher education do not include the net price of attendance in their aid offers; 2) 55 percent of institutions do not itemize key direct and indirect costs in their student financial aid offers; and 3) 24 percent of institutions do not provide a student with the total cost of attendance. The GAO Report further identified 10 best practices for transparency in student financial aid offers, but stated that nearly two-thirds of institutions of higher education studied in the report followed half or fewer and none followed all 10. Under the bill, the guidelines to be established by the secretary are required to ensure students receive information in student financial aid offers from institutions that: 1) identifies the direct and indirect costs of attendance; 2) provides the total and net costs of attendance; 3) establishes standardized terms for student financial aid offers; 4) explains a student's right to accept or decline an offer; 5) requires the contact information for the representative of the institution who the student can contact for additional assistance related to the offer; and 6) prohibits using the term "award" in student financial aid offers. The guidelines developed under the bill are also required to comply with the provisions of existing State law concerning financial aid transparency and the United States Department of Education's "College Financing Plan." The secretary is required to ensure the guidelines are not duplicative of federal requirements. It is the intent of this bill that by directing the secretary to create guidelines that incorporate the 10 best practices identified in the GAO Report, New Jersey's institutions of higher education will provide its students with the key information necessary to make informed decisions.

Committee Categories

Claire Swift (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document