Fees to rise in July for many UConn students
Many University of Connecticut students are set to pay more than $600 extra in fees per year beginning in July, one of a few adjustments the state university’s Board of Trustees made to student payment programs Wednesday.
The increases were put in place in part to combat rising costs of dining and materials, which have become more expensive because of supplychain issues during the pandemic.
Mandatory fees at Storrs are set to rise by $268 in July, and housing and dining fees will increase by $364. Regional mandatory fees are set to increase by $8. The fees cover a range of services including health and wellness, athletics, marching band and career development services.
The full cost of attendance for an in-state student living on campus will be $33,056.
“While we want to maintain our downward pressure on tuition and fees for the students’ sake, costs continue to increase,” Lloyd Blanchard, UConn’s interim vice president for finance and chief financial officer, said to trustees on Wednesday. “And so it is time to increase some of these fees, as the vice chair said, to keep up with cost.”
He mentioned the recent SEBAC negotiations that resulted in raises and bonuses for state employees as one of those costs.
Some fees such as the technology fee and infrastructure maintenance, which fall under the mandatory fee category, haven’t risen since 2014. And university-supported financial aid has increased by 28 percent since fiscal year 2019, according to a presentation given to the board on Wednesday.
“The university stretches really far, as far as we can, in accommodating financial need among those students that have the greatest amount of need,” said Nathan Fuerst, vice president for enrollment planning and management during Wednesday’s board meeting.
Over the past five years, the university’s fee-funded expenses have increased by 18 percent, and student fees have increased by 3.8 percent, according to a news release. The changes don’t affect UConn’s five-year tuition plan for fiscal years 2021 through 2025, put in place in 2019.