USU set to increase online course fees

Beginning Spring of 2020, Utah State University will be implementing an additional $15 per credit hour fee for online courses. The changes have been approved by USU’s Course Fee Committee. The committee is composed of faculty and the USUSA vice president. 

“Our hope is that this will be a balance between providing support for the students and managing the costs of online courses,” Robert Wagner said. Wagner is the executive director of Regional Campuses and Distance Education.

Prior to 2014, tuition for online courses was separate from tuition for on-campus courses. However, Wagner said, after 2014 the Utah State Board of Regents voted to include online courses with main campus tuition and make them available to more students. According to Wagner, since that time, online courses have been growing rapidly.

“We have seen great growth in these online courses, as it allows students to fit it in their schedules,” he said.

However, according to Dexton Lake, USUSA’s executive vice president, an increase in online usage means costs have gone up as well. In fact, he said the fees for running the Online and Distance Learning section of campus have reached around $1 million.

“Many people do not realize how much it costs to pay the Canvas site bill,” Lake said. “Many people also do not realize that Canvas is not necessary for traditional classes, but all online classes are required to use Canvas.”

As a result of increasing costs and online class attendance, Wagner said USU was struggling to keep up with expenses and began to look to other universities for a solution.

“We were looking at other universities, some of our sister universities here in Utah and realized we were the only school not providing extra fees for online courses,” Wagner said.

After meeting with USU President Noelle Cockett and the subcommittee for course fees, it was decided to implement the fee beginning this spring.

“We want to be sensitive to our students and their needs,” Wagner said. “The new costs will benefit students because of the resources that will be available to them.”

One of the benefits, according to Wanger, is the new courses that will be added to Online and Distance Education.

“This will help us expand beyond the nearly 500 courses that we have now,” Wagner said. “Online courses are critical and we want to provide as much as appropriate.”

According to Lake, one of the drawbacks is obviously the cost to students who can only access courses online.

“One complaint could be that students who are off-campus don’t have access to what they are already paying for in student fees,” Lake said.

However, he called the solution the “lesser of two evils.”

“All students, whether they are on- or off-campus, have some access to what their student fees pay for, but main campus students do not have automatic access to resources available online,” Lake said.

Wagner added that USU’s online credit hour fee is cheaper than other institutions. Therefore, he does not expect a change in the number of students taking online courses.

“We want to be open and transparent about where the fees are going. Every year we will report to the Course Fee Committee,” Wagner said.

Utah State University ranked No. 15 in the country for online programs this year, according to U.S. News & World Report.

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