Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires institutions of higher education to refund to students percentage of tuition and fees and certain costs associated with student housing and meal plans for spring 2020 semester.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain refunds for students at institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 3B of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section, “qualified tuition expenses” means payments made by a student for tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester, or such payments made on behalf of a student through a student loan.
b. Each institution of higher education shall provide a 25 percent refund of qualified tuition expenses for the spring 2020 semester to any student who enrolled in and submitted payment for an in-person course of instruction which course instead was provided in a virtual or remote format due to the public health emergency and state of emergency declared in response to the coronavirus disease 2019.
2. a. As used in this section, “qualified student expenses” means payments made by a student for on-campus student housing and a meal plan for the spring 2020 semester, or such payments made on behalf of a student through a student loan.
b. Each institution of higher education shall provide a pro rata refund of qualified student expenses for the spring 2020 semester to any student who was required by the institution to vacate on-campus student housing due to the public health emergency and state of emergency declared in response to the coronavirus disease 2019. The refund shall reflect the number of days between the date the institution required a student to vacate on-campus student housing and the originally scheduled end-of-occupancy date for the student housing.
3. Each institution of higher education shall notify its students of the refund available pursuant to the provisions of this act within 30 days of the effective date of this act.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
In response to the public health emergency presented by COVID-19, and pursuant to Executive Order 104, colleges across the State have closed on-campus student housing and cancelled in-person course instruction for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, instead offering courses in virtual or remote formats.
This bill requires each institution of higher education to provide a 25 percent refund of tuition and fees to students who enrolled in and submitted payment for an in-person course of instruction that was instead provided to students in a virtual or remote format due to the public health emergency.
This bill also requires each institution of higher education to provide a pro rata refund of payments made for room and board and meal plans for the spring 2020 semester to any student who was required to vacate on-campus student housing in response to the public health emergency. The refund will reflect the number of days between the date the institution required a student to vacate on-campus student housing and the originally scheduled end-of-occupancy date for the student housing.