A04914 Summary:

BILL NO    A04914 

SAME AS    Same as S 877

SPONSOR    Pheffer

COSPNSR    

MLTSPNSR   

Add S6406, Ed L

Requires institutions of higher education to disclose the average dollar amount
of institutional aid awarded to students.

A04914 Actions:

BILL NO    A04914 

02/06/2009 referred to higher education
01/06/2010 referred to higher education

A04914 Votes:

A04914 Memo:

 BILL NUMBER:  A4914

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
the disclosure of average awards by institutions of higher education

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL : This bill requires institutions of
higher education to disclose the average dollar amount of
institutional aid awarded to students with an annual income of less
than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000).

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS : Section 1 amends the education law
by defining the terms "institution of higher education" and "income."

Section 2 amends the education law by requiring institutions of higher
education to disclose the average dollar amount of institutional aid
awarded to students with an annual income of less than two hundred
thousand dollars. Such disclosure shall be made for each level of
annual income in ten thousand dollar increments. This information
shall be available in written form upon request of any person and
shall be set forth on the institutions web site and in their catalog.

 JUSTIFICATION : Tuition discounting is the practice of using
institutional aid to adjust tuition levels to best match what students
and families are willing to pay. Almost half of private, four-year
institutions with at least 1,000 students provide discounts to 90% or
more of their students.

Actual discounting strategies vary dramatically between colleges and
it is nearly impossible for students who are evaluating a particular
institution to predict the amount of institutional aid that they may
receive. Unless this information is provided to them, prospective
students are unable to obtain a realistic idea of the financial aid
package that they may receive.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :  2007-2008: A.11338A - Referred to Higher
Education

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS : None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE : Sections 2(a) and 2(b) of this act shall take effect
on the sixtieth day after it becomes law and Section 2(c) shall take
effect on July 1, 2009.