Students Fees per semester

Health Service and Pharmacy fee $82.90

Grant-in-Aid fee $106.55

Activity Fee $102.03

Computer network fee $48

Legal Service Fee $4.72

Athletic fee $81.05

Bond revenue fee $199.35

Health and Accident Insurance Fee $101.95

Campus Improvement Fee $90.72

Total: $817.27

When students begin at Eastern, their tuition rates are locked in.

But fees that are assessed vary from year-to-year.

This year, all students pay $817.27 in fees per semester.

They will soon pay more.

Linda Coffey, the university Bursar, said this is because independent institutions that are supported by fees need more money to survive.

Coffey is an accountant for Eastern and said tuition rates are locked in under the “truth-in-tuition” law of 2004.

However, fees are not locked in because they do not have to be under law, said Coffey. If the state were to lock in fees, institutions such as textbook rental, which get no state funding, could not survive.

Textbook Rental is not part of the $817.27 in fees. Textbook rental is an additional charge that is based on how many credit hours a student takes.

Included in the fees amount is the student health and accident insurance fee, which can be refunded if a student provides proof they have insurance of equal or greater coverage.

Students who have their insurance fee waived can still use Health Service because it is completely separate, said Lynette Drake, director of Health Services.

Students pay to use Health Service with the Health Service and Pharmacy fee of $82.90.

Health Service is 62 percent funded by the student fee and 38 percent funded by sales and service charges.

The state only gives Health Service $4,000 out of the $2,414,934 budget. Drake says they use the state money to pay for part of their postage costs.

Students also pay a Grant-in-Aid fee of $106.55.

“Eighty percent of the fee goes to athletics but not 80 percent of athletes get grant-in-aid,” said Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining Services. “The money is given to students who are both academically and athletically fit, to bring ink to the university.”

Hudson said schools get more publicity from athletics than they do from winning awards, such as Nobel prizes.

Hudson said when Eastern received a bid to the NCAA championship it was featured on the cover of the Chicago Tribune and the inside page of the USA Today as the little school that made it to the Big Dance.

Students pay an Activity Fee of $102.03. This fee is divided six ways. Apportionment Board receives $26.68 out of the activity fee, which is divided again and given to Student Government, University Board, the Student Recreation Center and to cover their own costs.

Students receive free newspapers and a yearbook because of the $4.40 given to Student Publications to pay for The Daily Eastern News, The Warbler, the Vehicle and Minority Today.

Students also pay $5 per semester for concerts. This money is put into a separate account that helps Student Life defer the cost of a concert so students do not have to pay full price for a ticket.

“The goal is for the concerts to break even,” said Dan Nadler, vice president of student affairs.

Also taken from the activity fee is a $55.05 Computer Tech fee that pays for CATS, which helps to enhance use of technology in the classroom for students, Nadler said.

In addition to the tech fee, a computer network fee of $48 that students pay separately, funds the backbone of the network system including connections, servers and mainframe.

A $4.72 Legal Service Fee pays for a lawyer that can only be used by students.

Students can use the lawyer if needed for items such as landlord issues, underage consumption charges, divorce advice, traffic violations and other issues, Nadler said.

The lawyer cannot represent students in cases against the University or other students because it would be a conflict of interest.

The remaining fees are an Athletic fee of $81.05 and a $199.35 bond revenue fee, which pays for the operation and building costs of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, Lantz Arena and the student rec.

Students’ fees have fluctuated during the last three years and are facing another increase.

In 2004, students paid $705.08 for fees including insurance.

In 2005, students paid $667.65 in fees including insurance. This figure went down because the bond revenue fee decreased $66 because the bonds were refinanced, Nadler said.

All students paid $817.27 in fees this year. Eastern can increase student fees each year unlike tuition, which is locked in once students start at the university. (Photo Illustration by John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

(more…)