# Plain Language Summary: Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2023

This bill makes it easier for charitable organizations to donate money to colleges and universities specifically for student housing projects without losing their tax-exempt status. Right now, there's some confusion in tax law about whether charities can give grants for student housing because housing sometimes includes social and recreational activities beyond just sleeping quarters. This bill clarifies that charities can absolutely fund these projects and still maintain their charitable status.

Here's what this means in practical terms: A charity could donate money to help a university build new dorms, renovate existing student housing, or improve the facilities in residential buildings. The bill allows these grants to cover not just basic housing but also common areas and amenities that students use—like lounges, study spaces, or community gathering areas—as long as they're the kinds of things you'd normally find in a college dorm. The one exception is that the money can't be used for fitness facilities or gyms. The bill also requires that the housing primarily serves full-time students at the college where it's located.

The practical impact is that this removes a legal gray area that may have discouraged some charitable giving to universities. Donors and charities will have clearer permission to support student housing improvements, which could lead to more funding for campus housing projects. This particularly helps colleges that rely on charitable donations to upgrade aging dorms or build new residential facilities. For students, this could eventually mean better housing conditions and more resources directed toward residential improvements at their institutions.

Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2023

Wenstrup, Brad R.

Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2023 This bill allows tax-exempt charitable or educational organizations to make collegiate housing and infrastructure grants to certain tax-exempt social clubs (e.g., college fraternities and sororities) that apply such grants to their collegiate housing property. A collegiate housing and infrastructure grant is a grant to provide, improve, operate, or maintain collegiate housing property that may involve more than incidental social, recreational, or private purposes. The grant must be for purposes that would be permissible for a dormitory or other residential facility of the college or university with which the collegiate housing property is associated. The grant may not be used to provide physical fitness facilities.