<p>Colleges and universities continue to increase tuition, but in some cases they are augmenting tuition hikes with hefty changes in fees.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Students at Georgia's public universities will pay 3% more in tuition, but with fees the increase jumps to an average 9% more than last year. The rise is driven primarily by a "special institutional fee" that will cost as much as $1,088 next year for some students. For Georgia Tech freshmen, all fees total $2,370 about a quarter of the total charge, $9,652.
<p>Apparently, not all fee payments are offsetting essential school costs:
[quote]
New Jersey state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, a Republican who was incensed this spring that Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi was paid $32,000 in student activity fees to speak at Rutgers University, proposes that state schools be required to detail on tuition bills how fees are allocated.
<p>As for these stealth tuition increases there is little that we can do about them. State governments, when facing budget difficulties increase fees all the time instead of raising taxes. That is similar to colleges increasing fees that are less noticeable compared to increasing tuition. The best solution is to analyze not just a college’s stated tuition, but also investigate associated fees. Perhaps the Dept. of Education should include these fees in their listing of college costs, i don’t think they do that currently.</p>
<p>I wish schools would stop the “course fees” and just have a set fee per semester for part-time and one set fee for full time students. The course fees just nickle and dime you to death. (well, not nickle and dime…more like $20s and $50s you to death).</p>
<p>If the STEM major classes cost more (hence higher fees) then charge a different tuition for those majors. </p>
<p>People are annoyed to see $250-700 added to their bill each semester…especially the first semester when the initial “gotcha” happens.</p>
<p>I realize that these fees are supposed to cover things like technology improvements, chemicals/materials in labs, etc…but if schools are using the money to pay for Snooki-like speakers, then there’s just no justification for that. </p>
<p>$32,000 would pay for about 50 new computers on campus!</p>
<p>I once was forced to attend a lecture by a retired circuit judge who the newspaper later reported was paid $50,000 for his 45 minute appearance. I can guarantee you that as long as people are willing to talk for money, that colleges will be paying. I would rather listen to Snooki prattle on than a crusty old geezer who is about to fall asleep.</p>
<p>It’s New Jersey. What does one expect ?
Fees are a reality but hiring Snooki or types like her are a slap in the face to parents and students. I would rather listen to an achieving student or an accomplished professor at the institution.
If times and money are tight, the school should have better sense as to how the limited money is spent.</p>
<p>Does the Georgia legislature or state DOE have approval/veto power over tuition increases? It may be that schools are free to set fees however they want, but tuition has to be approved, and for political reasons “tuition” increases are kept small.</p>
<p>At the other extreme is UMass, where tuition is currently < 15% of the “tuition + fees” total. Yes, the fees are 85%. On the other hand, tuition hasn’t gone up in years.</p>
<p>It’s becoming a meaningless distinction. I don’t think I’ve seen any college web sites that don’t list tuition and fees together.</p>
<p>The University of Illinois not only charges hefty fees, but differring tuitions based upon majors. Business, engineering and most science majors have around a $4500 charge on top of the base tuition. What galls me is that some of the fees are listed as optional – including funding for two different scholarships – but students must apply in person to get these $25-35 bits back on different days from different buildings around campus. The process is so cumbersome that few students bother. Also I have asked about the scholarships to which I “optionally” contribute – what are the criteria, how many are awarded per year, how much is collected etc.-- and never have gotten an answer.</p>
<p>There are some situations where it has truly gotten out of hand where the fees are higher than the tuition. I think that in looking at the cost of college, one has to look at the tuition and other required payments such as fees. If you are living away from home, those costs need to be examined too. There is a huge spread in all of those figures that can make a big difference.</p>
<p>You also have to add in a few hundred or more in “hidden” fees for many schools that are not generally added in to the “tuition + fees” amount that gets reported on the web page.</p>
<p>For example, S’s school has an “Undergraduate Engineering Fee” of $320/year, an “Honors College Fee” of $500/year, and this semester they added in a “Senior Fee” (even though he’s in this 3rd year he has enough credits to technically be considered a senior) of $110, don’t know if that is a one-time fee or per semester.</p>
<p>So that’s $900+ per year in fees that aren’t reported anywhere unless you really dig.</p>
<p>When he was a freshman there was also the “Undergraduate entering fee” for $180 and the “Freshman Counseling Fee” for $300 that I never heard about until the first bill showed up. That was a nasty surprise.</p>
<p>When D1 started at NJ state univ 2 yrs ago, parents were told that although the gov put a cap on how much they could raise tuition, they were simply going to raise fees. Tuition for the fall 2011 semester is $3844 and fees are $2413. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in a few years, the fees are higher than the tuition.</p>
<p>Our State U is the same. We have a long list of mandatory per credit hour fees - they add up to over $120 per credit hour (and these don’t enclude course specific fees such as extra for labs or extra for online classes). I think it is a way to get round state govt rules about tuition fees.</p>
<p>The fees are getting out of hand and can really vary from school to school. At mt D’s private school, copies are 10 cents each, the fitness center costs extra, and the required PE classes are about $300 each on top of the $40,000 tuition! Many schools, even public schools give you these things free, and also don’t charge for laundry either. I did not realize how badly I was being nickel and dimmed till I toured schools with my son this summer.</p>
<p>Schools don’t appear to be working hard to hold down tuition costs as it went up by 5% this year.</p>
<p>The U I attend spells out in great detail every fee added to your bill- which isn’t much. I think I only pay $26 dollars in “fees”. Some majors have fees, but not specific classes. However, my tuition is pretty high for a public instate school ($445.50 per hour), so perhaps fees are rolled up into that. With the steep tuition hikes and what little state aid we used to get being cut, I can’t imagine what would happen if mysterious fees started showing up on our bills…</p>
<p>$10 for Math lectures, on top of being required to buy the online homework package because it’s not being graded by hand. Money for labs on top of tuition already paid for the credit, this that and the other. Colleges must make money, and it has to come from somewhere. Unfortunately, students bear the brunt of mysterious things that colleges could just lay out in front of them. I hate reading sites that say “personal expenses.” They should say how much each of these little course fees and fitness center fees are right in your face.</p>
<p>That being said, I do like having laundry be “free” for students at my public instate school. Of course, it’s being paid for in the room and board.</p>
<p>I agree that it is ridiculous what a lot of schools are doing. For some of this stuff, it has to cost to administer and track these fees, so the net intake may not even be that much.</p>
<p>Georgia schools offered a fixed-rate plan up until 2008 or 2009 that guaranteed no tuition increases. Obviously many of the students who took advantage of those fixed plans are still in school; in the meanwhile, the GA legislature cut funding by ~20% to higher-ed. The only way to make up lost revenue (according to the Regents) is fees, which arn’t subject to fixed rate guarantees.</p>
<p>Folks should definitely not overlook fees in considering total COA. I think UGA’s fees this year are $1200 per semester. Definitely a major chunk of change.</p>
<p>Well, how many people showed up to see Snooki? It did bring Rutgers quite a bit of publicity, even if it was the wrong kind…at least their president isn’t selling hookers.</p>
<p>Whoa, is that an either / or thing??? Both of those things sound like bad ideas to me, and at least the second thing wouldn’t get added onto the fees. </p>
<p>I think the Snooki thing is just an ‘out there’ example – I doubt that events like that comprise more 1% of the actual fees being paid for public universities; the truth is, universities should do more to restrict costs and fees. I’m not talking about getting rid of extracurricular activities and other fun events because those can add to the college experience; however, they should manage them well to avoid having to increase tuition and fees faster than inflation each and every year.</p>