1. Beginning with the 2004-05 school year and for each school year thereafter, every public institution of higher education in this state shall require all students who reside in on-campus housing to have received the meningococcal vaccine not more than five years prior to enrollment and in accordance with the latest recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unless a signed statement of medical or religious exemption is on file with the institution’s administration. A student shall be exempted from the immunization requirement of this section upon signed certification by a physician licensed under chapter 334 indicating that either the immunization would seriously endanger the student’s health or life or the student has documentation of the disease or laboratory evidence of immunity to the disease. A student shall be exempted from the immunization requirement of this section if he or she objects in writing to the institution’s administration that immunization violates his or her religious beliefs.

2. Each public university or college in this state shall maintain records on the meningococcal vaccination status of every student residing in on-campus housing at the university or college.

3. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring any institution of higher education to provide or pay for vaccinations against meningococcal disease.

4. For purposes of this section, the term “on-campus housing” shall include, but not be limited to, any fraternity or sorority residence, regardless of whether such residence is privately owned, on or near the campus of a public institution of higher education.