ASSEMBLY, No. 282

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

220th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  BRANDON UMBA

District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)

Assemblyman  MICHAEL TORRISSI, JR.

District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Sawyer and Carter

SYNOPSIS

     Requires institution of higher education to provide refund or credit to students for unused on-campus student housing and meal plans due to COVID-19 public health emergency.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning refunds of student housing and meal plan fees 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 act, “qualified student expenses” mean  payments made by a student for on-campus student housing and a meal plan, or such payments made on behalf of a student  through a  student loan. 

     b.    Each institution of higher education shall provide a pro rata credit or refund of qualified student expenses on student accounts for any closure of on-campus student housing that occurred in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency of 2020. The credit or 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. 

     c.     In the event that the institution of higher education provides a credit towards an upcoming semester, the student may request that the credit be fully refunded if:

     (1)   the student does not re-enroll in the institution of higher education in the next operating semester of the institution; or

     (2)   the student re-enrolls in the institution of higher education in the next operating semester of the institution but does not use on-campus housing or a meal plan.  

     d.    Each institution of higher education shall notify its students of the credit or refund available pursuant to this section within 30 days of the effective date of this act. 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     In response to the public health emergency presented by COVID-19, colleges across the State closed dining halls and student housing.  This bill requires each institution of higher education to provide a pro rata credit or refund of qualified student expenses on student accounts for any closure of on-campus student housing that occurred in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency of 2020. “Qualified student expenses” are defined to mean payments made by a student for on-campus student housing and a meal plan, or such payments made on behalf of a student through a student loan.  The bill provides that the credit or refund must 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 student housing. 

     The bill further provides that, in the event that the institution provides a credit towards an upcoming semester, the student may request that the credit be fully refunded if:

     (1) the student does not re-enroll in the institution in the next operating semester of the institution, or

     (2) the student re-enrolls in the institution in the next operating semester of the institution but does not use on-campus housing or a meal plan.