Students at the University of Nevada, Reno will pay up to hundreds more next year in mandatory student fees, the Board of Regents decided Dec. 5.
The Board of Regents, which governs the University of Nevada, Reno and other public colleges and universities in Nevada, approved four proposals that would raise the amount students are required to pay on top of tuition. Three will raise the cost of existing fees, and one creates a new fee altogether.
Full-time, 15-credit students will be on the hook for an extra $237.50 per semester in mandatory fees. Because two of the fee proposals are calculated based on enrollment, students taking more than 15 credits will end up paying more. Part-time students are set to pay slightly less.
Current fees for a 15-credit student add up to $573.50 per semester. Next year, starting in the fall, they’ll add up to $811.
Student Fees Breakdown
Nevada Athletics will begin charging $3.50 per credit to support the construction of a $25 million dollar indoor practice facility. Stephanie Rempe, director of Nevada Athletics, said the facility would allow the university’s athletics programs to better compete with other schools and expand available practice space for club and intramural sports. Rempe has also said that it would be open for regular student use during the afternoon.
The technology fee will go up from $9 per credit to $18 per credit, totaling $270 a semester for a student enrolled in 15 credits. The technology fee maintains things like public computers, classroom technology and software access, according to Ed Huffman, executive director of the Office of Digital Learning at the university.
Counseling Services’ flat, $70 per semester fee will go up to $95 per semester. Counseling Services spends most of its budget on clinical staff and asked for the raise in order to keep offering the same level of mental health services on pace with rising labor costs, according to Yani Dickens, its director.
The Academic Success Fee will go up from $25 per semester to $50 per semester. Directors of the University Writing and Speaking Center, the Math Center and the Tutoring Center asked for the raise in order to recover hours and services that they say they’ve had to cut due to rising costs.
The only member of the Board of Regents to vote against the fee proposals was Carol Del Carlo, who represents Mineral, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, Churchill, Lander and Carson City counties and part of Washoe County.
More To Pay
Regents then voted unanimously to approve new special course fees, which students must pay to enroll in certain courses. Among them is a $50 increase to the $250 special course fee students pay to enroll in NevadaFIT. A full list of new special course fees can be found here.
Rates are also set to rise for on-campus housing and meal plans, as the Board of Regents also voted unanimously to approve increases across resident halls and meal plan sizes.
The most expensive on-campus housing will now be a single in Great Basin Hall, coming in at $10,700 for the academic year — $1189 every month. Other increases to meal plan and on-campus housing rates can be found here.
Stephanie Goodman, a member of the Board who represents part of Clark County, said students who were concerned about the fee increases should get more involved in student government if they don’t want higher fees to pass.
“All of your student representatives supported increased student fees,” Goodman said.
Peregrine Hart can be reached via email at peregrineh@unr.edu or on Instagram @pintofperegrine.
