Bill > HB463

This bill requires the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to collect data from public institutions of higher education in the state on the parental status of students enrolled in each institution. The bill specifies that MHEC, in consultation with the public institutions, must develop questions that allow students to identify whether they are a parent, acting as a parent, or a legal guardian, the age of their children, and the type of caregiving responsibilities they have, including whether they are a single parent or share parental responsibilities. Public institutions must include these questions on their forms used to collect demographic data from students and make the collected data available to MHEC. MHEC must adopt regulations to establish a common format and time frame for the data collection and reporting, and must submit an annual report to the General Assembly summarizing the data collected.