University Chancellor Ham Shirvani’s plan to end the practice of colleges and universities charging separate student fees is getting a thumbs-up from a state lawmaker who authored legislation for transparency in those fees.
"It's much easier for a student to understand that tuition has gone up five percent per year," said Sen. Mac Schneider (D-Grand Forks), who authored a bill calling for transparency in student fees. "It's much more difficult to understand how fees go up year after year. It's easier to take a look at one charge rather than trying to manage all the multiple accounts students have to look at now."
But Schneider says he’s concerned that the colleges may use this as an excuse to raise tuition more than they would with separate tuition and fees.
"It's one thing for fees to be rolled into tuition, and have that be revenue neutral," said Schneider. "It's another to see tuition go up more than fees would go up."
Schneider said he hopes Shirvani will make sure it stays revenue-neutral.
