Bill Text: NJ A1438 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits four-year institution of higher education to award associate degrees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A1438 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A1438-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Permits four-year institution of higher education to award associate degrees.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the awarding of associate degrees at four-year institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 3B 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 or regulation to the contrary, a four-year institution of higher education, in consultation with the Secretary of Higher Education and the New Jersey Presidents' Council, may establish a program pursuant to which the institution may award an associate degree to a student who has earned 60 academic credits or more at the four-year institution. Under the program, the four-year institution of higher education may also award an associate degree to a transfer student who has earned 60 academic credits, of which at least 30 academic credits were earned at the four-year institution. A four-year institution of higher education that establishes a program pursuant to this section shall:
(1) identify what associate degrees the institution will offer, ensuring that the degrees fit the mission, faculty mix, and current campus resources of the institution;
(2) ensure that associate degrees awarded by the institution meet the accreditation standards of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education;
(3) provide a student with academic advising that identifies the courses that the student needs to complete in order to attain an associate degree through the program;
(4) notify a student of the student's potential eligibility for an associate degree under the program upon completion of 60 academic credits at the institution;
(5) notify a student withdrawing from the institution prior to completion of a baccalaureate degree of the student's potential to earn an associate degree under the program; and
(6) establish policies and procedures for the annual review of the associate degrees offered under the program.
b. The Secretary of Higher Education shall report annually to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the number of associate degrees conferred by four-year institutions of higher education.
2. This act shall take
effect in the first full academic year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill permits a four-year institution of higher education, in consultation with the Secretary of Higher Education and the New Jersey Presidents' Council, to establish a program to award an associate degree to students who earned 60 academic credits or more at the institution. Under the bill, an institution which establishes this program may also award an associate degree to transfer students who earn 60 academic credits, of which at least 30 academic credits were earned at the four-year institution. The bill requires a four-year institution of higher education seeking to award associate degrees through the bill's provisions to:
(1) identify what associate degrees the institution will offer;
(2) ensure that associate degrees awarded by the institution meet accreditation standards;
(3) provide a student with academic advising that identifies the courses that the student needs to complete in order to attain an associate degree through the program;
(4) notify a student of the student's potential eligibility for an associate degree under the program upon completion of 60 academic credits at the institution;
(5) notify a student withdrawing from the institution prior to completion of a baccalaureate degree of the student's potential to earn an associate degree under the program; and
(6) establish policies and procedures for the annual review of the associate degrees offered under the program.
The bill also requires the Secretary of Higher Education to report annually to the Governor and the Legislature on the number of associate degrees conferred by four-year institutions of higher education.
