The Utah Board of Regents approved a $3 fee increase that will help subsidize study abroad programs for students by paying for things such as housing and transportation. The U administration will also donate $1 for every $3 to an endowment fund for the study abroad program.
Initially, only freshmen and sophomores will pay the fee. Once those students are juniors and seniors, all students will pay the additional $3 per year.
Even though the percent that tuition increased this year did not increase as much as it has in the past, Spencer Pearson, president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah, said he doesn’t feel more free to add fees.
“We have to be as careful with student fees as we would (with) anything,” Pearson said.
However, the U is still relatively more affordable than other schools, he said. Strengthening study abroad programs through the study abroad fee will improve the U’s reputation and help recruit more students.
After sitting down with the U administration last year, ASUU members decided the new fee is feasible for students. Because tuition is rising about 6 percent this year — as opposed to 7 percent last year — there’s financial wiggle-room for student fees, said Basim Motiwala, ASUU vice president.
“There is worry about (fees) getting out of control, which is why we look at it very carefully,” Pearson said, adding that the study abroad fee is small and will benefit the school in the long term.
However, not every student agrees with the student leaders about the study abroad fee or the addition of fees on top of rising education costs.
In a survey conducted last spring by the U Office of Institutional Analysis, 60 percent of the freshmen who responded approved of the fee, but 60 percent of the whole student body disapproved of the fee.
Some members of the ASUU legislature also think the fee is a bad idea.
“Three dollars…isn’t that much, but it’s that kind of thinking that got us to the $300 or $400 in student fees we have today,” said College of Engineering Rep. Dan Brinton.
Although a 6-percent tuition increase or a $3 student fee isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, for every dollar the cost of education rises, more students are likely to get cut from the bottom because they can’t keep up, Brinton said.
A lot of students would be happier if the cost of their education rose as little as possible, said College of Business Rep. Sarah Thomas.
“I don’t understand why the governor and other people talk about getting more people in the university and getting degrees,” yet raise the cost of education unnecessarily, Brinton said.
Thomas agrees that just because the tuition hike wasn’t as high this year doesn’t mean it won’t go up next year, and the student fees will still be there on top of that.
“The amount of students the fee benefits is very minimal,” she said.
However, Senate Chair Ryan Jensen thinks specialization is the nature of student fees. There’s a fine arts fee and a transportation fee, but not everyone attends fine arts events or rides the buses, he said.
“I think the (fee) is helping our reputation” and will increase student enrollment for a small price, Jensen said.
Not every student wants to study abroad or will, and not every student attends athletic events — but every student still pays an athletics fee so students that actually want to can, said John Francis, associate vice president for undergraduate studies. The fee will open up study abroad opportunities for students who face financial burdens that would prevent them from participating, he said.
The study abroad fee will also increase the U’s opportunity to receive more funding for the study abroad program. If the U.S. Congress passes the Sen. Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007, the Simon Foundation will be able to fund study abroad programs at universities around the nation. The U has a better chance of receiving funding from the foundation by showing a commitment to its study abroad program, such as this $3 fee, Francis said.
Right now, about 550 U students study abroad each year, making up approximately 2 percent of the student body. Because ASUU is still figuring out how to distribute the $175,000 it expects the fee to collect, Motiwala said he is unsure about how many additional students will benefit from the fee.