The Senate Higher Education Committee voted to advance multiple bills on May 21 aimed at supporting student parents and increasing oversight of private student loans.

Two bills addressing student parents were considered with committee amendments that narrowed the measures to undergraduate students only. Senate Bill 3976 (as amended) would grant priority course registration to eligible student parents; Senate Bill 3977 (as amended) would require institutions to collect certain information on student parents. Committee witnesses noted reporting challenges — institutions may undercount student parents because some students may not disclose parental status. Both bills were released from committee with affirmative committee votes.

Senate Bill 4011, a bill to register post‑secondary education debt creditors and to establish borrower protections for private student loans, received testimony from consumer advocates and was advanced out of committee. Beverly Brown Ridget, financial justice program director at New Jersey Citizen Action, urged “strong support” for S4011 and said New Jersey ranks high nationally for private student‑loan borrowing and that private loans often lack federal protections. Winston Birkin Breen of the Student Borrower Protection Center described the private loan market as “opaque” and said states can and should require transparency, reporting and minimum servicing standards; he noted many private loans require cosigners and cited problems with servicing practices and court collection filings.

During the committee vote on S4011, Senator Singer said he would vote yes but expressed lingering concerns and requested follow‑up; Senators Moriarty, Zwicker and Kryon also voted yes. Committee members asked staff and witnesses to review statutory language to ensure protections, reporting and enforcement tools are calibrated properly.

Committee members released the student‑parent bills and advanced S4011 to further legislative consideration. Witnesses asked the Legislature to finalize clear registration and reporting standards for private student‑loan lenders and to consider disability discharge parity and cosigner protections for private loans.