Sponsored by:
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits four-year public institutions of higher education from increasing New Jersey resident undergraduate tuition and fees above certain percentages.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning tuition increases 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. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a four-year public institution of higher education shall not increase the tuition and fees of a New Jersey resident undergraduate student by more than the rise in the CPI or two percent, whichever is less, above the amount the student was charged by the institution for tuition and fees in the prior academic year.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a four-year public institution of higher education shall not increase the tuition and fees charged to incoming first-year New Jersey resident undergraduate students by more than five percent above the amount charged by the institution for tuition and fees to first-year New Jersey resident undergraduate students in the prior academic year.
c. As used in this section, “CPI” means the increase, expressed as a percentage, in the average annualized consumer price index for the New York City and Philadelphia areas in the fiscal year preceding the prebudget year relative to the previous fiscal year as reported by the United States Department of Labor.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full academic year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits a four-year public institution of higher education from increasing the tuition and fees of a New Jersey resident undergraduate student by more than the rise in the consumer price index or two percent, whichever is less, above the amount the student was charged by the institution for tuition and fees in the prior academic year. In addition, the bill prohibits a public institution of higher education from increasing the tuition and fees charged to incoming first-year New Jersey resident undergraduate students by more than five percent above the amount charged by the institution to first-year New Jersey resident undergraduate students in the prior academic year.
The tuition increase restrictions imposed by the bill will take effect in the first full academic year following the date of enactment.