At the beginning of each semester, students across Binghamton University receive notifications indicating a new bill statement is available in QuikPAY, the University’s online billing and payment system. A number of charges compose the final bill, from resident meal-plan payments to campus-life fees, but breaking down tuition at BU can be complex.
Fourteen separate fees go into an undergraduate student’s cost of attendance. Fees like tuition, transportation and athletics might seem self-explanatory, but others, such as the ID card fee, academic support and technology fees have students like Tamar Abramson, a senior majoring in political science, confused by some of the fees included in her bill.
“I understand the bill, but I don’t understand why we have so many fees,” Abramson said. “They have a lot of costs that seem unnecessary. I don’t see the benefits.”
Michael McGoff, senior vice provost and chief financial officer at BU, wrote in an email that the ID card fee covers the initial cost of producing a student identification card, but not any replacements. He described the academic support fee as a means to provide tutoring and other support services for students.
Cost of attendance at BU also includes an academic excellence and success fee and a University fee. According to McGoff, this money is used to hire more faculty members and pay their salaries.
“The State University of New York Board of Trustees’ policy requires collection of the University fee from all students,” McGoff wrote. “The policy directs campuses to use the proceeds from the fee to supplement campus operations. Binghamton has used this fee to hire additional faculty and to fund faculty activities.”
McGoff said the technology fee helps to provide a high-tech learning experience.
“The funds from the Technology fee are used to enhance classroom technology, residence hall technology, public computer labs, and the student system,” McGoff wrote.
Some fees, including the academic support fee, the career resource fee and the ID card fee, are unique to BU, but despite these extra charges, BU’s total cost of attendance for in-state undergraduate students during the fall 2017 semester is still cheaper than the cost of attending University at Buffalo and University at Albany. BU is also cheaper than Stony Brook University, unless their required student health insurance fee is waived and left out of Stony Brook’s total fees.
Jessica Brown, a sophomore majoring in integrative neuroscience, said she was pleased to hear that BU’s cost of attendance is cheaper than the other SUNY centers.
“I feel like in a sense it’s better,” Brown said. “Even though we have these fees, at least we can look [at] where the money is going.”
Although BU’s total cost of attendance is cheaper than some other SUNY centers, it has still increased from previous years. For the 2017-18 academic year, semesterly tuition for in-state undergraduates at all SUNY colleges was raised from $3,235 to $3,335. The increase will cost students an additional $200 per year. McGoff explained that the decision to increase tuition at SUNY schools was made by the SUNY Board of Trustees, not the University.
“The SUNY Board of Trustees has the authority to raise tuition by a maximum of $200,” McGoff wrote. “The Board thought it necessary to increase the tuition in order for the State University to maintain program quality and access.”
Ian Foley, a sophomore double-majoring in biology and economics, said he felt it was difficult to understand all of the different fees that go into his semesterly bill.
“Sometimes I’m a little confused on what they’re charging me for,” Foley said. “Maybe they could make it easier by giving a slight description for each fee, of what it’s for, so we understand what we’re paying for and why we need to do it.”
The University’s description of each fee can be found here. Fall 2017 fees for Stony Brook University, University at Buffalo and University at Albany can be found here.
Gillian Kenah and Jacob Shereck contributed reporting to this story.