An Act concerning higher education, 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 or independent 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, and the remedial instruction provided by the institution to students. 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, including students who require remedial instruction, 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:

(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 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) 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 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 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) remedial instruction information which shall include, but need not be limited to: the overall number and percentage of students who are required to enroll in remedial instruction; the number of remedial instruction courses taken by each student who is required to enroll in remedial instruction and the number of remedial instruction courses completed by each student who is required to enroll in remedial instruction; the number of students who enroll in credit-bearing courses after being required to enroll in remedial instruction courses; a list of the remedial instruction courses made available; and the overall four-year and six-year graduation rates for students required to enroll in remedial instruction.

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 or independent 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 or independent 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 and independent institutions of higher education.

d. A four-year public or independent 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 or independent 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 or independent 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)

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 and independent 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)

3. (New section) a. No later than the fall semester of the 2015-2016 academic year and for each semester thereafter, if a public or independent institution of higher education determines by use of multiple commonly accepted measures of skill level that a student is likely to succeed in college-level work with supplemental support, the institution shall offer the student remedial support that is embedded with the corresponding entry level course in a college-level program. The embedded remedial support shall be offered during the same semester as, and in conjunction with, the entry level course for purposes of providing the student with supplemental support in the entry level course.

b. No later than the fall semester of the 2015-2016 academic year and for each semester thereafter, if a public or independent institution of higher education determines by use of multiple commonly accepted measures of skill level that a student is below the skill level required for success in college-level work, the institution shall offer the student the opportunity to participate in an intensive college readiness program before the start of the following semester. The student shall complete the intensive college readiness program prior to receiving embedded remedial support as provided in subsection a. of this section.

The Secretary of Higher Education, in consultation with the public and independent institutions of higher education, shall develop options for an intensive college readiness program.

c. (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, no later than the fall semester of the 2015-2016 academic year and for each semester thereafter, a public or independent institution of higher education shall not offer any remedial support, including remedial courses, that is not embedded with the corresponding entry level course as provided pursuant to subsection a. of this section, or offered as part of an intensive college readiness program as provided pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

(2) A public or independent institution of higher education may offer a student a maximum of one semester of remedial support that is not embedded, provided that the support is intended to advance the student toward earning a degree, and the program of remedial support is approved by the Secretary of Higher Education.

d. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to an independent institution of higher education having a total endowment of more than $1,000,000,000.

4. (New section) No later than July 1, 2015, and each year thereafter, the Secretary of Higher Education shall ensure that public and independent institutions of higher education work with the Commissioner of Education and local school districts to:

a. use available evaluation methods for early assessment of the potential for college readiness of each student enrolled in the eighth and tenth grades in a public school; and

b. share the results of the assessment with the student, the student's parents or legal guardian, and the public school in which the student is enrolled.

The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to an independent institution of higher education having a total endowment of more than $1,000,000,000.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

Under the "New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act," P.L.2009, c.197, a four-year public institution of higher education is required to provide for public inspection on its website comprehensive information on the institution including information on the cost of attendance, the graduation rates of admitted students, and the faculty of the institution. This bill amends that law to provide that independent institutions of higher education will also be subject to the provisions of the "New Jersey College Student and Parent Consumer Information Act."

This bill also requires a four-year public or independent institution of higher education to report and post on its website as part of the institution's student consumer information report information on remedial instruction provided by the institution. Under the bill, the remedial instruction information will include: the overall number and percentage of students who are required to enroll in remedial instruction; the number of remedial instruction courses taken by each student who is required to enroll in remedial instruction and the number of those courses completed by the student; the number of students who enroll in credit-bearing courses after being required to enroll in remedial instruction courses; a list of remedial instruction courses made available; and the overall four-year and six-year graduation rates for students required to enroll in remedial instruction.

This bill provides that beginning in the fall semester of the 2015-2016 academic year and in each semester thereafter, if a public or independent institution of higher education determines that a student is likely to succeed in college-level work with supplemental support, the institution must offer that student remedial support that is embedded with the corresponding entry level course in a college-level program. If the institution determines that a student is below the skill level required for success in college-level work, the institution must offer the student the opportunity to participate in an intensive college readiness program before the start of the following semester. After the fall semester of the 2015-2016 academic year, an institution will not be permitted to offer any remedial support to a student other than support that is embedded with the corresponding entry level course or offered as part of an intensive college readiness program, except the institution may offer a student a maximum of one semester of remedial support that is not embedded, provided that certain conditions are met. This provision will not be applicable to an independent institution of higher education having a total endowment of more than $1,000,000,000.

The bill also provides that no later than July 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Higher Education will ensure that public and independent institutions of higher education work with the Commissioner of Education and local school districts to use available evaluation methods to assess the potential for college readiness of each student enrolled in the eighth and tenth grades in a public school. This provision will not be applicable to an independent institution of higher education having a total endowment of more than $1,000,000,000.