Bill Text: NJ A3909 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends appropriations act to include number of degrees awarded to veterans in Outcomes-Based Allocation funding for senior public institutions of higher education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A3909 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A3909-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Amends appropriations act to include number of degrees awarded to veterans in Outcomes-Based Allocation funding for senior public institutions of higher education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act amending the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, P.L.2021, c.133.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The following language provision in section 1 of P.L.2021, c.133, the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, is amended to read as follows:
74 DEPARTMENT OF STATE
30 Educational, Cultural, and Intellectual Development
36 Higher Educational Services
Higher Educational Services
GRANTS-IN-AID
Notwithstanding the provisions of any law or regulation to the contrary, the amounts hereinabove appropriated for the Outcomes--Based Allocation program in each of the senior public institutions of higher education shall be allocated and distributed to eligible senior public institutions based on a funding rationale determined by the Secretary of the Office of Higher Education, in consultation with the New Jersey Presidents Council, which shall be based upon the following criteria along with any other requirements the Secretary determines to be appropriate in order to advance equity and improve student outcomes, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting: (1) the total number of degrees awarded by the institution, (2) the number of degrees awarded by the institution to individuals from underrepresented ethnic and racial minority groups, [and] (3) the number of students at the institution who receive Pell grants; and (4) the number of degrees awarded by the institution to veterans; provided further, however, that institutions receiving awards shall be required to: (a) adopt and publicly offer a predictable pricing guarantee to all full--time undergraduate students enrolling in the fall of 2022 that ensures that each such student with a family adjusted gross income of up to $65,000 will receive enough financial aid from a combination of State, federal, institutional, and other grants or scholarships to eliminate the net cost of tuition and mandatory fees for the student for the third and fourth years of the student's enrollment at the institution, except that if the amount of the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriation for Outcomes Based Allocation that is in addition to the appropriation provided for Outcomes Based Allocation in the prior fiscal year are insufficient to cover the cost of the predictable pricing guarantee, the institution may submit to the Secretary of the Office of Higher Education for approval an alternative predictable pricing guarantee which utilizes a lower family adjusted gross income threshold or which ensures enough financial aid to partially offset the net cost of tuition and mandatory fees for a student's third and fourth years of enrollment at the institution, provided that such alternative predictable pricing guarantee shall be available to full--time undergraduate students newly enrolling in the fall of 2022. An institution receiving funds shall submit an expenditure plan, subject to the approval of the Director of Budget and Accounting, demonstrating that the amount of the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriation for Outcomes Based Allocation that is in addition to the appropriation provided for Outcomes Based Allocation in the prior fiscal year are sufficient to cover the cost of the predictable pricing guarantee or alternative pricing guarantee; (b) develop sliding--scale net prices for other students who have higher incomes to complement this pricing guarantee, consistent with a predictable pricing structure throughout the length of these students' academic program, (c) adopt a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet for all undergraduate students, (d) share program--level spending information to assist in the distribution of future funding, and (e) participate in good faith discussions led by the Secretary to improve future distribution of funding to institutions consistent with State priorities, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting. Beginning with the data for academic year 2020--2021, each four--year institution shall report to the Secretary of Higher Education and the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, at an individual student unit record level, the amount of institutional aid granted to each undergraduate student. Of the amounts hereinabove appropriated for the Outcomes-Based Allocation program in each of the senior public institutions of higher education, the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting may transfer such amounts among the senior public institutions of higher education as are determined to be necessary to effectuate the funding rationale for the Outcomes-Based Allocation program.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would amend the appropriations act's language provision related to the Outcomes-Based Allocation program to include the number of degrees awarded to veterans as a factor in the funding rationale. The bill also provides that, of the amounts appropriated for the Outcomes-Based Allocation program in each of the senior public institutions of higher education, the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting may transfer such amounts among the senior public institutions of higher education as are determined to be necessary to effectuate the funding rationale for the Outcomes-Based Allocation program.
