New Jersey’s Senate Bill 4788, if enacted, would require four-year public institutions in the state to adopt a policy requiring students to complete a course with substantial climate change content before graduating.
The bill explains, “The purpose of the policy shall be to empower students with the knowledge and skills needed to confront the urgent global challenge of climate change,” adding, “The policy shall identify numerous courses offered by the institution across multiple disciplines that may satisfy the requirement, including upper-level courses that dedicate at least 30 percent of their content toward climate change and which provide instruction on climate change in students’ respective fields of study.” The policy would apply to students who enroll after the effective date of the law, if the bill is enacted.
Senate Bill 4788 is apparently the first legislative attempt to mandate climate change education in higher education. Writing about climate change education in public middle schools in the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education in 2024, Eric Plutzer and NCSE’s Glenn Branch and Amanda L. Townley observed that “mandatory climate change education is rare at the college level. Hess and Collins find only 17% of the top hundred U.S. universities and liberal arts colleges require it, while Vallée finds that only 5% of U.S. public universities require the study of environmental literacy for graduation” (notes omitted; links added).
The bill was introduced by Bob Smith (D-District 17) and Linda R. Greenstein (D-District 14) on October 27, 2025, and referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee. The legislature adjourns sine die on December 31, 2025.