Fees 101: Put in simpler terms
Student body fee for first credit: $182.50
Student body fee for three credits: $12.50
Student body fee for 10 credits: $4.50
Whether Utah State University students like it or not, paying fees such as these is an inevitable part of being a college student.
However, students can take a more active part than they may think.
In less than two weeks, the Student Fee Board will be hearing proposed fee increases from each fee area on campus and students are invited.
“If [students] come to these meetings, they will be better informed on why student fees are actually increasing,” said Justin Atkinson, president of the Student Fee Board.
The decisions being made behind these numbers is a process taken very seriously among the administration and the members of the Student Fee Board, Atkinson said.
“It’s difficult because there are people in these different areas [on campus] that have deficits that they need to make up,” Atkinson said. “We’re the ones receiving these services and we have an obligation to pay for the services we are receiving.”
Each year, the 19-member Student Fee Board receives recommendations from nine different university entities to increase fees for the upcoming academic school year.
These entities use the money from these fees to pay for student needs such as activities, athletics, Aggie shuttle services, computer labs, campus recreation and health services.
“Anytime we recommend an increase, it’s with a lot of reluctance because that’s money students have to pay and we don’t enjoy making it harder on students,” said Whitney Pugh, director for USU Budget and Planning.
After reviewing and voting on the individual requests for student fee increases, the fee board turns their recommendations over to President Stan Albrecht who then makes a final decision, said Jim Davis, director of the Student Health and Wellness Center.
“We try to get student input from the very beginning and take that information to the fee board,” Davis said.
Each increase is divided into specific student body fees that correspond with the number of credits a student is registered for. That way, students with more credits pay more fees because they use more of the university’s services, Atkinson said.
The fee board will be discussing proposals Nov. 28 and final increases will be placed under Tier II increases. Tier I is a uniform tuition increase set by the Utah Board of Regents for every college and university in Utah.
“I think students should learn more about student fees so they are aware of what they are actually paying for,” said Lisa Leishman, director of Parking and Transportation Services.
Compared with the university’s 10 other peer institutions, of which are all land-grant universities, USU is the second cheapest, Pugh said.
“You can interpret that however you want to, but there’s nine other schools in our peer group that are more expensive than we are,” Pugh said. “Whatever students are paying, they are getting a wonderful education for their dollar.”
Of the nine fee areas, there was an increase last year in four of them, totaling $10.25 more for each student.
Sara Driggs, a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering, said she was surprised when she paid for tuition and saw such a large list of student fees.
“If they could even generalize them a little more into categories, that would help,” she said.
Cody Butler, a junior majoring in exercise science, said he doesn’t understand why they keep separating the fees more and more.
“They keep going up and up and its seems like you have to pay for a lot of different things on campus,” he said.
But Ashley Averett, an undeclared freshman, thinks that many students are generally uninformed about student fees.
“I think they’re expensive, but I don’t think they’re too high because we do need them,” she said. “But I don’t want them to go any higher.”
For more information about fees, students can contact Atkinson at 797-1720 or attend the fee board meeting on Nov. 28 at 5 p.m. in the Senate Chambers in the Taggart Student Center.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu