Student fees are about to increase by 93 cents per each credit hour, given that the Board of Trustees approve the increase. This increase is being implemented due to the increased number of students signing up for online classes rather than attending lectures in classrooms around campus. The difference wasn’t originally planned for and led to a deficit of approximately $190,000 because students do not pay fees for online credit hours.

All the organizations are funded by the student fees that are allocated by the Associated Student Government and the Board of Trustees. The student fees per credit hour enrolled pays for ASG, the Programming Activities Council, The Criterion and other organizations. However, online courses don’t have the same fees that on-campus courses do and don’t benefit the organization pool of revenue. 

“Any time you have a budget deficit, you have some choices,” John Marshall, vice president of Student Services, said. “You can either claw that money back or you can figure out how to meet it through some additional revenues.”

ASG passed the student fee increase to fix the gap that wasn’t originally planned for. The course of action they took was to increase the fees that CMU imposes on students and repair the loss that was suffered. Rather than pulling money from an organization that had, like PAC on the concert, probably already spent it. 

“CMU has the lowest student fees in the state,” Marshall said. “We communicate with the students exactly where your fees go so there is a lot of transparency. The final thing is that it is a great opportunity to get involved and get your voice heard in terms of where your fees are going.”