Credit: (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

State lawmakers are moving to protect student data as concerns mount that sensitive personal information shared in college financial aid forms could be used by federal authorities to target immigrant students.

For the first time this year, New Jersey students must complete financial aid forms to graduate from high school as part of a pilot program to increase college access. Students can opt out of the requirement by submitting a waiver, which has left some advocates concerned that the list of students who waived the requirement could be used by immigration officials to identify students who are undocumented, since they are not eligible for federal financial aid.

More than 67,000 people in New Jersey completed a FAFSA as of April 24, which is about 58.6% of the high school class of 2025.

New Jersey is home to more than 400,000 undocumented immigrants. More than 40% of students live with an immigrant, the second-highest rate after California. More than 10% live with someone undocumented.

The Assembly Education Committee plans to vote Thursday on a bill that would limit the information provided in the waiver to the student’s name, telephone number, email address, date and signature. The bill would restrict schools from sharing information in the waiver without the informed consent of the student and family or a judicial warrant or court order.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously in March and would take effect immediately after being signed into law. Waivers submitted before the effective date would still fulfill the graduation requirement and become subject to the ban on sharing personal information without permission.

The bill is sponsored by Assembly Education Committee Chair Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Mercer), Assemblywoman Linda Carter (D-Carter) and Assemblywoman Carmen Theresa Morales (D-Essex). The sponsors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Filling out federal financial aid forms for college gives students a chance to afford and attend college, which can otherwise cost tens of thousands of dollars each year.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA, requires students to share their name, birth date, Social Security number and mailing address. The forms require similar information from “contributors,” such as parents, without the need for a Social Security number.

New Jersey has its own alternative aid application for Dreamers — people living in the U.S. without legal status who were brought here as children — who are not eligible for the FAFSA and meet state eligibility requirements.

Students who are not eligible to complete either form must waive the requirement to graduate. Students might waive the requirement for other reasons, too, such as if they do not need financial aid to pay for college. Others might complete the waiver because they are scared to share personal information with the federal government.

FAFSA data is protected by federal privacy laws and has not been used for immigration purposes in the past, but it’s possible current or future administrations could try to use it for immigration enforcement, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The group says it is unaware of any parent or contributor that has been targeted because of filing a FAFSA.

Staffers from billionaire Elon Musk’s government efficiency taskforce gained access to a financial aid dataset with personal information of students enrolled in the federal student aid program in February. The Student Defense and Public Citizen Litigation Group, representing the University of California Student Association, sued the Education Department for allowing Musk’s team access to confidential student data. The student association voluntary dismissed the case in April.

Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, said education groups have asked the Murphy administration to pause the pilot program to protect immigrant students.

“The concern is student privacy and potential for students and their families to be red flagged with regard to immigration status,” said Ginsburg, who plans to attend the Assembly Education Committee on Thursday.

In the absence of a pause on the pilot program, the group is supporting the proposed changes to the waiver. At a Senate Education Committee meeting in March, the bill had the support of key education groups, including the state’s largest teachers union and the school boards association.

Elizabeth Athos, senior attorney at the Education Law Center, asked for amendments to the bill, including a pause on the pilot program’s implementation.

“The current situation raises too many unknowns to safely proceed with the pilot program without potentially compromising student data privacy and without risking the FAFSA requirement will create unnecessary barriers to high school graduation for New Jersey students,” Athos told the Senate Education Committee.

The U.S. Education Department laid off half its staff in March, including 326 people who worked at the Federal Student Aid office. This could lead to significant delays in the FAFSA system, Athos said.

“New Jersey students should not have to see their data privacy rights put at risk in order to graduate from high school and a pilot program intended to benefit New Jersey students should not be put to the test at a time when our federal government is undergoing serious disruptions,” Athos said.