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A dining hall at Montclair State University is shown in this file photo. New Jersey colleges and universities would be banned from forcing students to buy meal plans under a bill that passed the Assembly today.

(Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — New Jersey's colleges and universities would be banned from forcing students to purchase meal plans under a bill passed by the state Assembly today.



The bill, which passed 53-17 with 3 abstentions, would also require schools to offer meal plans in the form of balances on pre-paid debit cards, and allow students to get a refund at the end of the year for any unused funds.

“In many schools, eight out of 10 students go into debt from day one. So they’re buying that $5 hamburger, so to speak, on the cost of a meal plan,” the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), said. “By the time you get paying the interest, it’s significantly more, and it’s not just a hamburger — it’s a hamburger deluxe.”

The bill (A2811) applies to all four-year colleges and universities, both private and public, with one exception: Princeton. Cryan said he exempted that school because it has a "stellar" graduation rate and because it already offers free tuition to lower-income students.

Michael Klein, executive director of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, said he believes most if not all public schools require students who live on campus to purchase meal plans.

“There are good studies that have been done that show that students who eat healthy and have meal plans like the ones that our institutions provide do better academically,” Klein said. “To give them from the get go just a debit card and say here you go, feed yourself as you see fit, what the studies show is students need more guidance when it comes to nutrition. That’s what these meal plans are all about.”

Klein wasn't sure if any schools allow students to get refunds unused meals. According to its website, Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus does not.

The bill was one of seven the Assembly passed today that are intended to reduce the cost of higher education in New Jersey, and it joins seven other bills the Assembly passed last month — including one that would freeze tuition for students at the amount they paid as freshmen.

The other bills passed by the Assembly today would:

• Close down four-year colleges and universities that don't graduate at least half of their students in six years (A2813)

• Require four-year private institutions to publish information on their websites about cost of attendance, graduation rates of admitted students, and the faculty. All schools except Princeton would also be required to offer students who are deemed "below the skill level required for success in college-level work" an opportunity to participate in an "intensive college readiness program." (A2803)

• Require county colleges to come up with a plan to achieve a three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent for full-time students (A2804)

• Direct the Secretary of Higher Education to compare the "prevalence, cost, and quality," of online courses compared to traditional courses (A2808)

• Have the state conduct an audit of fees charged by all schools (A2816)

• Require students at public colleges and universities to file a "degree plan," which is defined as "a statement of the course of study requirements that an undergraduate student at a public institution of higher education must complete in order to graduate." Schools would have to develop "develop pathway systems that establish graduation progress benchmarks." (A2818)

All of the bills still need to pass the state Senate to reach Gov. Chris Christie’s desk, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) has given no indication he’ll post any of them for a vote.

Matt Friedman may be reached at mfriedman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattFriedmanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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