A 4885 New York Assembly · 2025 Regular Session

Prohibits elementary and secondary schools from withholding student transcripts for failure to pay tuition

This bill prohibits elementary and secondary schools from withholding student transcripts if a student or family hasn't paid tuition. It directly affects students and families who might otherwise be blocked from transferring schools or continuing education due to unpaid fees. The key provision amends education law to explicitly require schools to provide transcripts regardless of tuition payment status, removing this barrier. The law applies to all public and licensed private K-12 schools in the state. This is a direct policy change ensuring transcript access remains available to all students.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 10, 2025 Last action Jan 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

A4885 A4885A · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill expands the prohibition on withholding student transcripts to include elementary schools, in addition to secondary schools and colleges. It also updates the legal reference to cover licensed private career schools and changes the effective date to 'immediately' rather than November of the following year.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include elementary schools and licensed private career schools, whereas the previous version only applied to secondary schools and colleges.
SCOPE

Added elementary schools to the list of institutions prohibited from withholding transcripts due to unpaid tuition.

Updated the legal definition to explicitly include licensed private career schools alongside degree-granting institutions.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the law from November of the following year to 'immediately'.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
2
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
lower
Mar 6, 2025
Lower · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 4885A
lower
Mar 6, 2025
Lower · Passed
AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO HIGHER EDUCATION
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION
lower
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors