Revision: Dec. 6, 2023, 2:20 p.m.
HB 1436 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2568
05/10
HOUSE BILL 1436
SPONSORS: Rep. Corcoran, Hills. 44; Rep. Belcher, Carr. 4
COMMITTEE: Education
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
This bill requires nonprofit institutions of higher education to maintain certain statistical information on their websites regarding tuition and graduation rates, student loan debt, and salary expectations.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2568
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Department of Education; Institutions of Higher Education; Statistical Information Reporting Requirement. Amend RSA 21-N by inserting after section 8-d the following new section:
21-N:8-e Institutions of Higher Education; Statistical Information Reporting Requirement.
I. All non-profit institutions of higher learning in the state of New Hampshire shall maintain a web page, located at a URL consisting of their primary domain name with the extension "/statistics" which holds statistics about the educational institution.
II. All pages at the institution website that have a navigation bar or menu shall have a link to the statistics page, styled in a way as to be coequal in font size, color, and all other respects with other elements in the navigation bar or menu.
III. The statistics page shall contain, in a standard format font, font-size, and grid format specified by the commissioner of education, the following information:
(a) For each calendar year, beginning in 2025 through the current year, a list of all academic programs offered at the institution, broken down by major or area of specialization; and
(b) For each such program and each such year:
(1) The list price tuition of programs, per single year, and per average duration for a degree.
(2) The total number of people enrolled.
(3) The number of people enrolled, broken down by self-reported race.
(4) The number of people enrolled, broken down by self-reported gender.
(5) Average standardized test scores of people, total.
(6) Average standardized test scores of people, broken down by self-reported race, if the university accepts self-reported race information.
(7) Average standardized test scores of people, broken down by self-reported gender if the university accepts self-reported gender information.
(8) The average graduation rate per program, total.
(9) The average graduation rate per program, broken down by self-reported race.
(10) The average graduation rate per program, broken down by self-reported gender.
(11) The average number of semesters to graduate with a degree.
(12) The average number of semesters spent for those students who leave without a degree.
(13) The average debt load of students who graduate from each program.
(14) The overall employment rate within 6 months of graduation from or withdrawal from the program, per program.
(15) The employment rate within the field of study within 6 months of graduation from or withdrawal from the program, per program.
(16) The average starting salary, per program.
(17) The results of a calculation: the number of years required to pay back 100 percent of tuition, compounded at an annual 8 percent interest, while using 20 percent of after tax salary dollars based on the reported starting salary.
IV. No additional information or editorializing shall be included on the statistics page.
V.(a) The same URL shall, when queried with a web request specifying XML data format, return the above data in an XML format specified by the commissioner of education.
(b) The same URL shall, when queried with a web request specifying JSON data format, return the above data in an JSON format specified by the commissioner of education.
VI. Any nonprofit institutions of higher learning in the state of New Hampshire that does not maintain such a web page with at least 99 percent of the uptime of the rest of its website shall lose its non-profit status and shall be required to pay any applicable state business taxes and local property taxes.
VII. Any individual aggrieved by an institution's failure to comply with the requirements of this section may bring a private action against the institution for damages and equitable relief and may recover reasonable attorneys fees and costs as the prevailing party.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.