Oregon lawmakers placed higher education resource fees in the spotlight last week when they asked the Oregon University System to examine the fees and their purpose.
A University of Oregon student with 12 credits pays an average of $499 in fees per term, not including additional fees associated with the student’s major. There are also fees that come with certain classes, which can range from $2 to $105. Those are the fees often overlooked by students. Finally, students pay a mandatory one-time $250 matriculation fee when they enroll at the University, covering the cost of orientation, transcripts, degree applications and other similar charges. So, a first-term freshman pays approximately $749 in fees.
The University of Oregon requires more fees than any other Oregon institution. Oregon State University charges full time students $441.15 per term.
Students vocalized their concerns to the senators at a hearing April 17 and introduced the bill as a first step. Although the Oregon Student Association has been working on this issue for about four years, the state board only began looking at it closely in the past year.
Students have asked the board to re-examine the entire fee policy, including implementation, increases and transparency. There has been heavy discussion around the fact that many students who sign up for classes or majors with additional fees are not aware of it until they see the tuition bill.
Senate Bill 1029, in theory, would ensure that resource fees would be closely scrutinized to the advantage of students.
In response to the OSA, the Senate Education and General Government Committee sent a letter to OUS Chair Henry Lorenzen requesting a report addressing the issue. Points of focus include studying other states’ course fee impact on students, establishing a committee to create criteria for increasing existing resource fees, making progress toward increased transparency of resource fees, and discussion around possible fee remissions to provide some sort of financial aid to students who cannot afford the fees.
Because financial aid in large part does not cover fees, a primary concern of the legislators is to offer assistance to those students being hit the hardest by rising fees.
“These fees take students by surprise,” Lorenzen said, “and financial aid does not always cover that. It’s important for us to take a hard look at it.”
Melissa Unger, OSA Executive Director, said the bill will most likely not pass. The purpose of the bill is to create the conversation that is now taking place, so it really achieves its objective without even being implemented, Unger said.
Unger said OUS board members were positive about the issue, and seem willing to dedicate the time necessary to resolve it.
Still, Senator Vicki Walker, chair of the committee sponsoring the bill, said she will not hesitate to pass the bill should push come to shove.
“I’m pretty persuasive,” she said. “They have two weeks and they know that I have the ability to move things through the legislative process.”
University Registrar Herb Chereck said fees have been a concern of the University for some time, and the office is working on “providing the information in a more transparent way and a complete way.”
“I really believe the that the undertaking of that committee is warranted,” Chereck said.
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