By Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger
TRENTON — Alarmed by rising college costs and student debt, New Jersey lawmakers proposed a package of 20 bills today designed to cut tuition, increase graduation rates and make schools more accountable.
State Assembly Higher Education Committee Chairwoman Celeste Riley (D-Cumberland) and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) said they spent three months studying the problems in higher education and meeting with college officials, student groups and other organizations.
“This might be the first proposal of its kind to be so all-encompassing,” Riley said. “But that doesn’t mean what we’ve put forth is written in stone. We’re open to ideas from anyone as long as it reduces costs and enhances achievement.”
It is unclear how many of the bills could garner enough support to become law. One bill (A2807) calls for freezing public and private four-year college tuition and fees for nine semesters for incoming students, an idea New Jersey college officials have dismissed in the past as unrealistic in an era when state funding for higher education is unpredictable.
Other bills in the package would establish a state income tax deduction for student loan interest, require colleges to develop free online textbooks and mandate the shut down of four-year public colleges that fail to graduate at least half of their full-time undergraduates within six years.
A copy of each bill is available at: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12717665/Riley_Bill_Package_FINAL_032014.pdf
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