HB 298 Maryland House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Maryland Higher Education Commission - Demographic Data Collection - Parental Status

This bill requires Maryland's public colleges and universities to collect standardized data about students' parental status, including whether they are parents, guardians, or single parents, and details about their caregiving responsibilities. The Maryland Higher Education Commission will establish uniform questions and reporting formats for institutions to gather this demographic information from students. Institutions must submit this data annually to the Commission, which will compile and report aggregated findings to legislative committees starting in 2026. The policy aims to provide transparency on student caregivers' needs without altering existing support services or funding.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 9, 2025 Last action Apr 2, 2025

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What changed between versions

First - Maryland Higher Education Commission - Demographic Data Collection - Parental Status → Third - Maryland Higher Education Commission - Demographic Data Collection - Parental Status · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill adds a favorable committee report and adoption status to HB 298, which requires Maryland's Higher Education Commission to collect parental status data from students at public institutions of higher education. The bill mandates that institutions ask students if they are parents, guardians, the ages of their children, and the type of caregiving responsibilities they have. The Commission must establish a common format for data collection and submit annual reports summarizing the data to legislative committees.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on public institutions of higher education in Maryland, with no changes to applicability beyond the original text.

REQUIREMENT

Added committee report status showing the bill was favorably reported and adopted by the House on February 22, 2025.

Added explanatory text clarifying that capital letters indicate new matter and brackets indicate deleted matter in the legislative text.

Added requirement for institutions to collect specific parental status information including whether students are parents/guardians, ages of children, and types of caregiving responsibilities.

Added requirement for the Commission to establish a common format and timeline for data collection and reporting.

Added requirement for the Commission to submit annual reports summarizing collected data to Senate and House committees by September 1, 2026 and each year thereafter.

TECHNICAL

Added signature lines for the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate at the end of the bill.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 24, 2025

How they voted

94–37

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 137

Feb 24, 2025

D Democratic98

93 Yea 5

94% Yea

R Republican39

1 Yea 37 Nay 1

94% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 28, 2025

Committee

Referred Education, Energy, and the Environment

upper

Feb 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Feb 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Report by Appropriations

lower

Feb 24, 2025

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (94-37-6)

house of delegates

Jan 9, 2025

Committee

First Reading Appropriations

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors