Bill Text: NJ A3181 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires public institutions of higher education to provide student-athletes who lose athletic scholarships because of injuries sustained while participating in the athletic program with equivalent scholarships.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A3181 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A3181-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CARMELO G. GARCIA
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires public institutions of higher education to provide student-athletes who lose athletic scholarships because of injuries sustained while participating in the athletic program with equivalent scholarships.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning student-athletes at public institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 62 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, "student-athlete" means a college student who participates in an intercollegiate athletic program of a public institution of higher education.
b. In the event that an athletic program at a public institution of higher education does not renew an athletic scholarship of a student-athlete who suffers an incapacitating injury or illness directly related to his participation in the athletic program, and the institution's medical staff determines that the student-athlete is medically ineligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics, the institution shall provide the student-athlete with a scholarship that is equivalent to the athletic scholarship.
c. The equivalent scholarship provided by the institution pursuant to subsection b. of this section, combined with the total duration of any previous athletic scholarship or scholarships received by the student-athlete, shall be provided for a total of five academic years or until the student-athlete completes his undergraduate degree, whichever period is shorter.
An institution may, at its discretion, provide an equivalent scholarship for additional academic years.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires public institutions of higher education to provide a student-athlete, whose athletic scholarship is not renewed because of injuries sustained while participating in the athletic program, with a scholarship that is equivalent to the athletic scholarship. Under the bill, the equivalent scholarship, combined with the total duration of any previous athletic scholarship or scholarships received by the student-athlete, will be provided for a total of five academic years or until the student-athlete completes his undergraduate degree, whichever period is shorter. However, an institution may, at its discretion, provide an equivalent scholarship for additional academic years.
Intercollegiate athletics is a multi-billion dollar industry, and each year student-athletes help to generate millions of dollars in revenue for their schools. However, many colleges provide one-year, renewable athletic scholarships, and a student-athlete who sustains an incapacitating injury or illness faces the possibility of not having his scholarship renewed by the school. As a result, many student-athletes who lose their athletic scholarships find it difficult to afford the ever-increasing costs of attending college. This bill seeks to rectify that injustice by requiring public institutions of higher education to provide student-athletes who lose athletic scholarships because of injuries sustained while participating in the athletic program with scholarships that are equivalent to the athletic scholarships.
