New Jersey Senate proposes bill to freeze college tuition

According to CollegeFactual.com, a database of American colleges and various metrics relevant when choosing a college, for the academic year of 2018-2019, Stevens’ average net cost of attendance was $50,544 in tuition and fees. This number was calculated prior to financial aid adjustments and does not include room and board. Additionally, the database shows that, like many universities, Stevens’ tuition and cost of attendance has gone up steadily for years. In 2012, tuition was just over $40,00 per year, and 10 years later, tuition costs for 2022 are projected to be just under $60,000 per year. According to CollegeFactual.com, this increase has resulted in a 3.5% increase in tuition and fees over the last 5 years, dating back to the 2014 school year.

A new bill in the New Jersey State Senate, however, would alleviate this pressure from increasing costs for in-state students. Bill number S353, proposed on January 14 of this year, prohibits four-year institutions of higher education, both public and private, from increasing the tuition and fees of a New Jersey resident undergraduate student for nine continuous semesters following the student’s initial enrollment in the institution. To put it more simply, this would mean that for any New Jersey resident, your tuition would remain at the same price throughout your time at Stevens.

The bill, proposed by two Democratic senators, Joe Cryan and Vin Copel, also states that this tuition freeze could extend beyond nine semesters if your desired program normally takes more than four academic years. However, if an individual has approved leave from the institution for more than one year, perhaps due to military service or academic probation, the tuition freeze would not be applied to that case.

Finally, the last requirement of the bill is that it does not apply to independent schools which possess an endowment of over $1,000,000,000, which only applies to Princeton in New Jersey. If the bill makes it out of the Senate Higher Education Committee, which it was introduced to on the same day that it was proposed, it would then be sent to the New Jersey General Assembly, and it could be signed into law as early as later this year. There is currently not a specific plan for its introduction, so it is impossible to say when its effects will be felt, if it is passed.