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Lawmakers investigate Oregon student fees
Students bring concerns about higher education fees' transparency to the state senate
by Allie Grasgreen | Managing Editor
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.
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.
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UO senior
posted 5/08/07 @ 7:55 PM PST
The fees are a rip off. They cannot justify the fees. The first thing that will get done is a pay raise to all the legislators and UO administrators. (Continued…)
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