The most ridiculous fees at UMass

In the face of skyrocketing tuition rates, a student debt crisis, and a crippled economy, UMass Amherst has found a way to keep its $1 billion-dollar industry afloat – and it’s at the bottom of our pockets.

Student fees are the university’s tool of choice for wringing money from students and their families.

This year in-state students will pay $12,457 in fees but only $1,714 in tuition. For out-of-state students the burden is greater, with $20,568 in fees and $9,937 in tuition.

And these are just the costs we see upfront. $25 for a lost UCard. $50 for a new room key. Life happens, and it’s expensive.

Below is a list of some of our favorite fees – some mandatory, some disciplinary, and some infuriating – that help make our time at UMass the four most expensive years of our lives.

Curriculum Fee (In-state: $4,985, Out-of-state: $9,040 per semester)

Tuition at UMass, $857 per semester for in-state students, is just a fraction of the “curriculum fee” every student pays. This fee is the single largest expense for any student attending UMass, and perhaps the most vague as well.

According to the Bursar’s Office “Fee Explanation” sheet the curriculum fee “contributes to the educational missions of the campus, helping to provide a comprehensive university offering a wide variety of programs at the graduate and undergraduate level.”

Sure?

Meanwhile, our tuition “supports the cost of instruction on the campus”.

So, the curriculum fee is tuition? Cool.

BASICS Fees ($100 first offense, $175 second offense)

If you’ve ever been caught with music a bit too loud, a few too many beers, or a few too many friends you are probably familiar with this fee.

The Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students, known notoriously as BASICS, is UMass’s way of fining students caught underage and/or irresponsibly drinking. The first $100 fine pays for a spot in an alcohol screening course similar to your standard high school health class.

Get caught a second time and the same class costs $175.

Parking Fees ($240-$1,095 per year)

Meticulous in their effort to leave no inch of campus unprofitable, UMass requires parking passes for every parking lot on campus.  Passes start $240 for the most distant dirt lots and climb as high as $1,095 for a VIP spot in the Campus Center garage.

Limited metered parking exists for 2-hour intervals, but nowhere can you park free on campus- even if you work there.

Shared Infrastructure Technology Fee ($125 per semester)

Over the summer students sprang into action against this new fee, starting a movement (and Facebook event) called the UMass IT Fee Challenge.

On June 5, over 150 prank phone-calling vigilantes called the Board of Trustees and read the reasons why they opposed the new fee. Their voices went unheard.

The IT fee stands, supposedly a remedy for the faulty wireless connection around campus; but we all know Eduroam is as bad as ever.

Residential Technology Fee ($126 per semester)

Unlike the IT fee, the Residential Technology Fee costs one-hundred and twenty-six dollars.

That extra dollar hurts.

Equipment Rental Late Fees ($20 per hour/day)

The Communication and Journalism Equipment room, or CAJE, in the ILC rents state-of-the-art camera equipment to students in the department, but with a steep $20 per day late fee.

Laptops rented from the library are even stricter- with a late fee of $20 per hour. Students are also expected to pay for any equipment lost or damaged.

Honors College Fee ($300 per semester)

It costs $300 a semester to be in the Commonwealth Honors College. That is an extra $2,400 for a student who spends all four years in the air-conditioned dorms of the “ComColl”. The Honors dorms are some of the most expensive, too.

The priciest? An apartment-style single in Birch, Elm, Linden, or Maple, which goes for $5,723 per semester.

Basic Health Fee ($343.50 per semester)

While students can waive the $1,055 Student Health Benefit Plan if they have health insurance, everyone is subject to the Basic Health Fee. This fee covers general use of University Health Services; a notoriously slow and unreliable clinic that serves UMass students, faculty and staff, their spouses and dependents, and anyone sick or injured willing to pay on a fee-for-service basis.

With the closest hospital twenty minutes away in Northampton, using the university clinic makes sense for many Amherst residents.

Engineering Fee ($287.50 per semester)

It costs $287.50 per semester to enroll in the engineering program at UMass. The Bursar’s office explains the oddly specific fee as necessary “to equip and operate instructional engineering equipment and laboratories.”

Undergrad Entering/Senior Fee ($185, $110 one time)

Every student pays an Undergraduate Entering Fee ($185) to begin freshman year and a Senior Fee ($110) the first semester of their senior year. These fees are supposed to offset the costs associated with the initial enrollment and student services provided to upperclassmen, costs that somehow not covered by the $300 Freshman Counseling Fee that everyone also pays. All seniors have to pay the Senior Fee regardless of whether they plan to graduate the next semester.

UMass is not alone in their attempt to hide the real cost of our education behind a fanfare of fees. Universities all over the country have been doing it for years, allowing them to advertise enticingly low tuition rates. The university, like any other business, must market, advertise, and grow- or risk falling behind. With UMass currently $3 billion dollars in debt from the recent construction boom, it is worth asking what exactly we are paying for when we see things like a “curriculum fee”.