When attending Colorado State University, students pay a student fee that funds 16 different areas around campus.
Student fees pay for a number of areas, including employees in student services offices like Student Legal Services and Women and Gender Advocacy Center, as well as counseling services through the CSU Health Network. They also help pay for the operations of many different offices like the Career Center and Off-Campus Life.
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This year, full fee paying students paid $764.32 each semester. Lance Li Puma, ASCSU vice president and Student Fee Review Board chair, said the school collects just over $50 million in student fees every year.
Li Puma said each fee funded area is under the oversight of the students on the Student Fee Review Board. Each area has a director and an advisory board made up of students that reports to the board.
Every spring, the review board looks at the fee funded areas and makes recommendations to increase or keep the budget for each area the same. The fee funded areas also approach the review board and can request more money or keep their current budget.
The Lory Student Center received a 1127.2 percent increase in their budget for “Facility Construction/Renovations” this school year, increasing it from $6.21 to $76.21 per student per semester.
This school year, full-time students paid $104.75 more than last school year in student fees. Part-time students, or students taking five or fewer credits, paid $50.94 more than the previous year.
Li Puma said the Student Fee Advisory Board tries to get student feedback before increasing the budget by asking students if they feel the increase would be helpful or necessary.
“They don’t go into the giant pot (with tuition and state funds) … This goes specifically for those resources for students,” Li Puma said. “These are supposed to be enhancing your time here.”
Significant student fee increases from 2013/14 to 2014/15 (for full-time students):
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ASCSU – $37.80 to $44.02
Athletics Operations – $102.97 to $107.61
Hartshorn Health Service – $148 to $155.06
LSC construction – $6.21 to $76.21
University Technology Fee – $20 to $25
Total fee increase – $909.57 to $1,014.32
Collegian Reporter Sady Swanson can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @sadyswan.
