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Committee advances bill limiting when colleges can withhold student transcripts
Summary
S3280 and companion A42542R were released by the committee; amendments narrow institutions' authority to withhold transcripts to unpaid payment periods not covered by federal or HESA-administered state aid, require posting of transcript policies, forbid withholding due to institutional error or fraud, and allow students to authorize third-party release.
The Senate Higher Education Committee released Senate Bill 32 80 with committee amendments that restrict when public and proprietary institutions of higher education may withhold official transcripts.
Under the amendments described by committee staff, institutions may withhold a current or former student’s transcript only for credits in a payment period not paid using federal student aid or state student financial aid administered by HESA and only if the charges were not part of an agreement to pay at the time of the student's request. The bill also requires institutions to provide official transcripts for payment periods paid with federal or HESA-administered state aid where the charges were included in an agreement to pay at the time the transcript was requested.
The amendments further prohibit institutions from withholding transcripts as a means to take other adverse actions against students when the debts resulted from an error in the institution's administration of federal student aid or from institutional fraud or misconduct. The bill authorizes students to permit release of their transcripts to third parties and requires institutions to post their transcript policies.
Supporters listed in the record included representatives from county colleges, New Jersey Citizen Action, and other stakeholder organizations. The committee moved and voted to release the bill; roll-call votes recorded Senators Singer, Amato, Moriarty, Zwicker and Kryon voting yes and the bill was released.
The bill will proceed to the next legislative step; the committee did not enact final floor action during this meeting.
