S 4701: Requires degree-granting institutions of higher education to make certain biennial disclosures and to conspicuously publish the report on the website of such institution and submit the website address of such report to the department.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4701 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE February 11, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring degree- granting institutions of higher education to make certain biennial disclosures The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 239-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 239-c. Biennial disclosures. 1. All degree-granting institutions of 4 higher education offering registered undergraduate programs shall make 5 and publish a biennial report disclosing the following, based on the 6 most recent data or calculations available, and based on audited or 7 agency-reviewed data whenever available: 8 (a) whether such institution is a degree-granting proprietary institu- 9 tion of higher education, a non-profit institution of higher education 10 or a public institution of higher education; 11 (b) except for public institutions of higher education, the ownership 12 or ownership interest and control of such institution; 13 (c) whether the institution has the authority to confer two-year 14 degrees, four-year degrees or both; 15 (d) a schedule of all tuition, mandatory fees and other mandatory 16 costs to attend such institution, per semester or, when applicable, per 17 quarter; 18 (e) in the case of any degree-granting proprietary institution of 19 higher education, the gross profit of such institution as stated in the 20 institution's most recent audited financial statement shall be reported 21 as a dollar amount; 22 (f) the amount of spending on instruction, post-enrollment academic 23 support, and post-enrollment student services determined in a manner 24 consistent with the spending categories used by the federal Integrated EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09397-01-5 
 S. 4701 2 1 Postsecondary Education Data System except the amounts (i) may include 2 expenses for course design and instructor support related to distance 3 learning, and (ii) shall exclude expenses for advertising, recruiting, 4 admissions, and other activities related to students not yet enrolled in 5 an institution. In the case of publicly funded institutions, reporting 6 of such expenses is required when those expenses exceed two percent of 7 the operating funds derived from state sources; 8 (g) marketing and recruitment expenditures as stated in the insti- 9 tution's most recently audited financial statement shall be expressed 10 both as a dollar amount and as a percentage of the overall budget of 11 such institution. In the case of publicly funded institutions, report- 12 ing of such expenses is required when those expenses exceed two percent 13 of the operating funds derived from state sources; and 14 (h) when such information is publicly available or accessible to the 15 institution: 16 (i) median earnings one year after graduating from such institution 17 separated by program; 18 (ii) the percentage of students who take out federal loans to attend 19 such institution; 20 (iii) the average dollar amount of federal loans taken out by students 21 to attend such institution; 22 (iv) the average dollar amount of private loans taken out by students 23 to attend such institution; 24 (v) the amount in dollars that such institution receives from the New 25 York state tuition assistance program; 26 (vi) the percentage of students who took out a federal loan to attend 27 such institution who have repaid at least one dollar of the principal of 28 such loan within five years of leaving such institution; and 29 (vii) the default rate after three, five, and ten years of students 30 who took out a federal loan (or private loan, if such information is 31 accessible to the institution) to attend such institution. 32 2. (a) Biennially on or before the first day of July, each institution 33 of higher education shall conspicuously publish the report prepared 34 pursuant to subdivision one of this section on the website of such 35 institution and submit the website address of such report to the depart- 36 ment. 37 (b) The commissioner shall publish and maintain a list of all website 38 addresses received pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision on the 39 website of the department. 40 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 41 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, 42 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 43 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 44 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.