Bill
A 895
New Jersey bill A895 restricts pre-admission criminal history questions for higher education; only specified serious offenses may justify denial, with post-acceptance checks allowe
Note on document discrepancy
- The title provided with the bill metadata ("Requires insurance to cover a car seat to be provided upon discharge of a newborn from a hospital") does not match the legislative text and committee statement you supplied. The documents you provided and the bill text for A895 concern restrictions and procedures for using criminal history information at institutions of higher education and degree‑granting proprietary institutions. The summary below reflects the actual bill text and committee amendments provided.
Summary — A895 (Print Number 895A)
Purpose
- Establish limits and procedures on when and how institutions of higher education and degree‑granting proprietary institutions in New Jersey may ask about or use applicants’ and students’ criminal history. The stated aim is to restrict pre‑admission criminal history inquiries while permitting narrowly tailored exceptions and post‑admission uses.
Key provisions
- Pre‑admission prohibition: Applications used by colleges, universities, and degree‑granting proprietary institutions generally must not include questions requesting a prospective student’s criminal history (including juvenile records).
- Enumerated exception (pre‑admission): An application may ask whether the applicant was convicted of certain listed "serious" offenses (examples: criminal homicide, kidnapping, luring/enticing, human trafficking, sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault, robbery, arson, child exploitation offenses, perjury/false swearing, terrorism, and attempts or conspiracies to commit these crimes).
- Limited basis for denial: An institution may deny admission on the basis of criminal history only if the applicant was convicted of one of the enumerated serious offenses.
- Appeal and review: If admission is denied for an enumerated conviction, the applicant must be notified and may appeal to the institutional disciplinary body. The reviewing entity must consider (a) time since the offense, (b) applicant’s age at the time, and (c) evidence of rehabilitation or good conduct.
- Expunged/pardoned convictions: Institutions may not deny admission on the basis of a conviction that has been expunged or erased by executive pardon.
- Post‑acceptance inquiries: Once an applicant is accepted, institutions may inquire about criminal conviction history (not limited to the enumerated offenses) or require a background check for purposes such as offering counseling, making campus‑life participation decisions (including residency or activities), or obtaining secondary information (immunizations, financial aid, housing). When making such decisions institutions must weigh offense gravity, time elapsed, age at offense, and rehabilitation evidence.
- Educator preparation programs: Institutions offering teacher‑preparation programs may consider criminal history reported on State Board of Education professional conduct forms, but such consideration is limited to offering counseling. Institutions may not deny continuation in programs designed to prepare students for careers requiring occupational licenses or teaching certificates solely because of criminal history.
- Common Application: Institutions may accept the Common Application provided it does not ask about criminal history except as allowed for the enumerated serious crimes.
- Law school exception: The pre‑admission prohibition does not apply to law school applications.
Committee amendments (notable)
- Removed provisions creating a Universal College Application Development Task Force and requirement to develop a single standard application.
- Clarified that only convictions for enumerated serious crimes may be the basis for denying admission.
- Added protections for applicants with expunged or pardoned convictions.
- Explicitly permitted post‑acceptance criminal history inquiries and defined permissible uses and considerations.
Who is affected
- Prospective and admitted students; admissions offices at public, independent, and degree‑granting proprietary institutions (excluding law schools for the pre‑admission ban); students in educator preparation programs; institutions processing Common Application submissions.
Procedural history and sponsors
- Introduced Jan 9, 2024; reported favorably by Assembly Higher Education Committee with amendments Feb 22, 2024 and referred to Assembly Appropriations. Subsequent actions in 2025 include referrals to the Insurance Committee and print number 895A (motions to amend and recommit to Insurance on 2025‑04‑10). Primary sponsor: Asm. Phara Souffrant Forrest; cosponsors Manny De Los Santos and Harvey Epstein. Companion bill: S3621.
Potential impact and considerations
- Limits “blanket” pre‑admission criminal history screening, potentially increasing access to higher education for applicants with non‑enumerated or older convictions.
- Allows institutions to address safety and program‑specific risks by permitting questions about serious crimes and post‑admission inquiries tied to campus life and support services.
- Establishes process protections (appeal and individualized review) for applicants denied based on enumerated convictions and protects individuals with expunged or pardoned records.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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