This bill aims to prevent institutions of higher education and certain proprietary institutions from withholding a student's transcript due to any outstanding balance on the student's account. Specifically, it prohibits these institutions from refusing to provide a transcript, conditioning the provision of a transcript on the payment of a debt (excluding any fees for the transcript itself), charging higher fees, or using transcript issuance as a means of debt collection.

Additionally, the bill establishes penalties for noncompliance, stipulating that if an institution fails to provide a transcript within 10 business days of a student's request, it will incur a penalty of $500 for each day of noncompliance. This legislation is designed to ensure that students have access to their academic records regardless of their financial obligations to the institution.