Bill Text: NJ S690 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires four-year public institutions of higher education to require undergraduate students to complete course on climate change.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-01-13 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee [S690 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S690-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires four-year public institutions of higher education to require undergraduate students to complete course on climate change.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning climate change instruction at four-year public institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 62 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The governing board of a four-year public institution of higher education shall adopt a policy requiring a full-time undergraduate student to complete a course on climate change prior to graduating from the institution. The purpose of the policy shall be to empower students with the knowledge and skills needed to confront the urgent global challenge of climate change.
b. The policy shall identify numerous courses offered by the institution across multiple disciplines that may satisfy the requirement, including upper-level courses that dedicate at least 30 percent of their content toward climate change and which provide instruction on climate change in students' respective fields of study.
c. The policy shall apply to students who first enroll in the institution on or after the effective date of this act.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the governing board of a four-year public institution of higher education to adopt a policy requiring a full-time undergraduate student to complete a course on climate change prior to graduating from the institution. The purpose of the policy is to empower students with the knowledge and skills needed to confront the urgent global challenge of climate change. The bill requires that the policy identifies numerous courses offered by the institution across multiple disciplines that may satisfy the requirement, including upper-level courses that dedicate at least 30 percent of their content toward climate change and which provide instruction on climate change in students' respective fields of study. Under the bill, the policy is to apply to students who first enroll in the institution on or after the bill's effective date.
