Students could see an extra charge on their accounts next term if the University administration’s proposal for a spring term tuition surcharge comes to fruition.
The surcharge would amount to $150 for in-state students and $300 for out-of-state students. It results from the University’s efforts to make up part of the $8.1-million state budget cut it faces during the remainder of 2008-09 fiscal year. The surcharge will raise about $2.2 million, said Frances Dyke, vice president of finance and administration.
“We clearly have a big hole to fill,” she said.The amounts for a surcharge, and its existence, are still being debated among members of the central administration, who will reach their official decision within about 10 days. Ultimately, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education will have the final say.

The charge was not worked into students’ financial aid packages at the beginning of the school year, Director of Financial Aid Elizabeth Bickford said. She doesn’t know yet how the amount, which is still hypothetical and being discussed, will affect students financially. She did, however, predict the surcharge will impact each student differently.
A financial aid package is planned on the premise of the student taking 15 credits, Bickford said. If a student takes fewer, they get a refund. If a student takes more, he or she often pays the University.
In the case of the surcharge, a student taking fewer than 15 credits spring term will likely have the charge covered. However, a student who takes more than 15 credits spring term will pay the fee out-of-pocket. Students should consider the number of credits they take and the amount of their financial resources when planning for spring term this year, she said. If the surcharge does happen, Dyke said, 30 percent will be put back into financial aid funds.
However, students still worried about how the charge could affect them. Senior Amanda Ip said, “What are we supposed to do to cover that $150? … For a lot of families, $150 is a lot of money. It’s not very much time to come up with that extra money.”
The proposed surcharge would come into effect at the same time as the reduced incidental fee. ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz successfully pushed for the fee to be lowered $100 during spring term, a move that would inadvertently lower the impact of the surcharge.
ASUO Sen. Nick Gower, a member of the Associated Students President’s Advisory Committee, said the coincidence is fortuitous rather than discouraging. Without it, students would really be paying $250 to $400 next term, he said.
Dotters-Katz said there is no connection between the lowered fee and the surcharge because they represent independent funds. “The buy-down was as much about being responsible with our surplus funds as reducing costs to students,” he said.
In fact, most acknowledge reducing student costs to be nearly impossible during spring term. Athan Papailiou, former ASUO Senate president and member of ASPAC, said the University depends heavily on tuition dollars and receives only 12 percent of its funding from the state. Until the Oregon State Legislature re-evaluates its “pathetic” funding of the University, Papailiou said, money from tuition will have to cover the majority of the University’s costs, now and in the future.
University President Dave Frohnmayer told The Register-Guard on Wednesday, “Now we are faced with a situation where we honestly don’t know how getting through the rest of the school year can be done without further sacrifices.” The surcharge is one of those sacrifices, Frohnmayer said.
Papailiou added: “This is the reality of tough economic times.”
Senior Christina Diamond said she dislikes the University’s attitude about students carrying some of the institution’s debt. “We’re all being hit by (the economy) too,” she said, “not just the University.” The University’s deficit absolutely must be met, Gower said, because no public entity can legally finish a fiscal year in debt. Therefore, “students are looking like they’re the ones that’ll have to face it,” he said.
The rest of the University will likely face a portion of the budget burden as well, Dyke said. In addition to the surcharge, a one-time cut to the central administration and cuts to schools and colleges have also been proposed, she said.
Dotters-Katz agreed. “At some point, students must face part of the burden we all must face,” he said. “The possible tuition increase is an absolutely necessary life preserver for this institution.”
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