The proposal comes after a case in North Dunedin last week sparked a warning from the University of Otago for students to be alert to symptoms of the disease, such as a high fever or headache.
University director of student services Claire Gallop said cost was "a barrier" to vaccination.
Students currently pay $110 for a meningitis B injection, of which two are required, and $103 for a meningitis ACYW injection, although the latter is funded for those entering college accommodation for the first time.
"We believe that many more tertiary students would be vaccinated against meningitis if these vaccines were fully funded," she said.
Teenagers and young adults are among those most at risk of the disease, and the university typically reports at least "one or two cases" each year.
The case identified last week attended a gig at U Bar and had visited Unipol gym, although the university was unable to confirm whether they were a student.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Southern said this was the fifth case of the disease in the region this year, while last year there were seven confirmed cases.
Two of these 12 cases had been fatal.
Pharmac plans to fund the meningococcal B vaccine from March 2023.
It would make the vaccine available to people aged 13 to 25 years "who are entering into or in their first year of close-living situations", with a catch-up programme for people in this age group who were already in a close living situation.
It would also include children up to 12 months of age, with a catch-up programme for children aged from 13 to 59 months.
The Meningitis Foundation said Pharmac's proposal did "not go far enough".
The foundation made an oral submission to the Health Select Committee on Wednesday as part of a campaign to make vaccines funded for all young people.
This follows the foundation's petition earlier this year for Government to fund vaccines for all 16-year-olds before they leave school, signed by 6357 people.
Chairman Gerard Rushton, whose daughter Courtenay died of meningococcal disease in 2014, criticised the limited scope of the Pharmac plan.
It did not target the two most significant at-risk groups, Maori and Pasifika, within the age range, and would be mostly applicable to tertiary students moving in to halls of residence.
"To be brutally honest, it won’t make a smidge of difference in the greater scheme of protecting our rangatahi [youth] and our most vulnerable groups," he said.
Pharmac’s chief executive Sarah Fitt said if the proposal is approved, around 300,000 people would be eligible during the catch-up period, and around 60,000 new infants and young people each year following.
"We are pleased to be progressing this proposal for widening access to the meningococcal B vaccine," she said.
Submissions on Pharmac's proposal close on November 8.
