FINANCES
On-Campus Fees During the COVID-19 Pandemic CSU continues to mandate normal fees and rates for labs, studios, oncampus activities and amenities, and housing contract cancellation despite ongoing pandemic and limited campus accessibility
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espite ongoing changes on campus brought upon by COVID-19 such as limited access to campus facilities and last-minute decisions about instructional format, CSU continues to mandate housing contract cancellation fees, regular lab and studio fees, and regular student activity and recreational fees. This pandemic has sent many students into a financial panic as they contemplate how to properly construct class schedules and living arrangements while monitoring mandated fees and potential refunds. Some concerns addressed by students were regular lab and studio fees despite limited access to these facilities, both during and outside of class times. Students also raised concerns regarding difficulties with the housing contract cancellation process due to cancellation fees and issues with cancellation form submission. With the state of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in sudden adjustments and classes transitioning to a virtual or hybrid format each day as the start of the semester approaches, many students have opted to move out of oncampus housing to reduce overall academic costs. Certain classes, such as art studio classes, have arranged to present all lectures and instructional elements virtually while still allowing students optional access to studios and labs. This optional studio and lab access allows for the course to be coded as a hybrid course. If one class on a student’s invoice is coded as hybrid, despite instructional elements being remote while other classes are coded as virtual, CSU requires the regular fees that apply to face-to-face classes. CSU also mandates these on-campus fees if a student resides off-campus based on the class coding on their invoice. These fees include the activity, athletic, campus access, parking deck, health, and student rec center fees, adding up to a total of $577 per semester. Montavius Walton, sophomore Graphic Design and Cybersecurity major, believes “it isn’t fair that [students] have an athletic fee and student rec fee of $380 when all programs and parts of the rec center are limited or non-
4 | The Saber | FALL 2020
”I personally believe that CSU is opening exclusively for profit. It’s too soon to be opening schools.” existent.” Walton also expressed that student fees should have been reduced accordingly rather than remaining at normal costs because students are not “being offered a complete, normal semester.” Multiple students expressed personal dissatisfaction regarding limited access to and decreased hours for facilities due to the upcoming school year being “not a regular school year, far from it,” with students “being charged regular fees,” as stated by Malik Gabeyre, sophomore Biology and Pre Medical major. He continued by addressing the problem of being “charged $180 per semester for the student rec center that is now open for only three hours a day, and even worse, not every day.” Gabeyre doubted that “there will be anything athletic about fall 2020,” despite students being charged $200 for the athletic fee. He believes these two fees are “the biggest scams on [students’] invoices” and that the other mandated fees are also “a burden to students.” He expressed NASTASIA ROZENBERG
