SENATE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3977

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 12, 2025

      The Senate Higher Education Committee favorably reports Senate Bill No. 3977 with committee amendments.

      As amended, this bill requires an institution of higher education to collect certain information concerning certain student parents.

      Under the amended bill, an institution of higher education is required to submit an annual report on or before July 1 of each year to the Secretary of Higher Education on student parents, defined as a student enrolled in an undergraduate degree program of an institution of higher education who is the parent or legal guardian of a child under 18 years of age. The report is to include: (1) the number of full-time and part-time student parents enrolled in the institution, disaggregated by demographic subgroups; and (2) data on the academic outcomes of student parents, including transfer, withdrawal, and graduation rates. The report is to be posted on the Internet website of the institution.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to limit the definition of “student parent” to include only those students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program of an institution of higher education who is the parent of a child under the age of 18.  The bill, as introduced, would have also applied to student parents enrolled in graduate degree programs.