Dear students and families,
Thank you for your patience and understanding as Elon finalized the plan to distribute credits for housing and meal plan costs from this disrupted spring semester. As we developed a strategy to reimburse students for housing and meals many were unable to use, we also acknowledged the fixed costs of university operations and facilities and Elon’s commitment to supporting remote learning and maintaining important services for students.
Unlike many other universities, Elon remained committed to keeping the campus open, providing basic services and dining facilities for students who were unable to return to their homes or found Elon’s campus to be a safer alternative. While the majority of Elon students remained or returned home after Spring Break concluded, some returned to campus for a period of time before going home, and others have been here throughout the past several weeks.
To accommodate the variety of choices that students have made during the pandemic, Elon has developed an online process that calculates individualized, prorated credits for each student who left campus as a result of COVID-19. The housing and meal plan credit process has been designed on the basis of the number of weeks students used campus housing and/or meal plans following Spring Break.
Students who wish to request credits for unused housing and meal plan costs can do so by Wednesday, May 20 at: https://www.elon.edu/myhousing.
Here is how the amount of individualized credit will be determined:
- Students in residence halls who did not return to campus after classes resumed online on March 23 will be eligible for credits equivalent to 8.5 weeks of housing and/or meal plan costs. This is based upon the originally scheduled residence hall move-out date of May 20.
- Students in campus apartments who did not return to campus after classes resumed online on March 23 will be eligible for credits equivalent to 10.5 weeks of housing and/or 8.5 weeks of meal plan costs. This is based upon the apartment lease end date of May 31.
- Students who lived in any type of university housing and/or used their meal plans after March 23 will receive prorated credits based upon the number of weeks they remained on campus and used their meal plans.
- Credit amounts will vary based upon students’ specific housing assignments and/or meal plans, as well as other variables such as financial aid packages.
Students enrolling for summer session and/or the fall semester will see the approved credit applied to their Elon account for future expenses, including tuition, room or board. There will be no cash refunds for returning students. Graduating students or those leaving Elon may request a refund for an approved credit through their account on OnTrack that will be paid through direct deposit. More information about the policy, how to request a credit and who to contact if you have questions is available at https://www.elon.edu/u/coronavirus/housing-meal-plan-credit/.
Thank you again for your patience during this difficult time.
—
Dr. Jon Dooley
Vice President for Student Life