S 2033 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Requires Secretary of Higher Education to establish guidelines regarding best practices for student financial aid offers.

This bill requires New Jersey's Secretary of Higher Education to create guidelines ensuring colleges provide clear, standardized financial aid offers to students. The guidelines mandate that institutions disclose direct/indirect costs, total and net price of attendance, standardized terms for aid types, student rights to accept/decline offers, contact information for assistance, and ban the term "award" in offers. It directly affects all New Jersey colleges and universities (including proprietary institutions) that receive state funding, aiming to address transparency gaps identified in a 2022 GAO report where most schools failed to provide key cost information. The guidelines must align with federal requirements and existing state law on financial aid transparency.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jan 13, 2026
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Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee
upper
2 primary · 0 co-sponsors

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