What are we really paying for? A breakdown of student fees and tuition

Statistics provided by ESU Budget Development and Tuition Committee / Infographic by Ali Nashatizade

Tuition. Every student must pay it, and most students don’t understand it.

As it turns out, the tuition paid each semester by the students of Emporia State is used to pay for nearly everything that makes up the school. However, tuition is only part of the combined income source from which the university operates.

“Tuition is combined with state money, typically called state general fund money, and finances the bulk of the education operation that finances the university,” said Ray Hauke, vice president of administration and fiscal affairs.

Combined, the state general fund and tuition cover around 75 percent of ESU’s monetary needs. A student’s tuition is used to pay for the general operation of each of the different departments on campus. Staff salaries are also paid from this source, but are generally taken from the state side rather than tuition as a matter of convenience.

However, tuition is not the only thing that a student must pay. In addition to tuition, each student is assessed fees that go into a Restricted Use Fund to be used only for specific departments and organizations.

The money from this account goes toward the Memorial Union, Athletics, the Student Health Center, The Bulletin and The Sunflower. Student housing fees also fall under the Restricted Use Fund. More information about each of the organization that receives money from this fund is available on the ESU Web site.

Tuition and fees generally increase from year to year. From 2004-2008, tuition increased 42.7 percent. These increases are determined by the Tuition and Budget Committee, which is comprised of faculty leadership, student leadership, classified leadership, all three university vice presidents, the Controller, the Budget Director and President Michael Lane, who is an Ex-Officio member and meets with the committee as his schedule allows.

This committee weighs state money and university needs to determine their recommendation to Lane. Lane then takes this recommendation to the Board of Regents who generally accepts it.

“Our tuition increase between last year and this year was the lowest of the state universities,” Lane said. “It was only 4.9 percent per in state student.”

The increase has gone to fund such things as the marketing program and pay raises for faculty. The increase also helps fund the Hornet Scholarship, meaning part of the money will go back to students who are performing well.

In the past, payment for tuition and fees was a much more complicated process. However, the current school year saw the introduction of a brand new streamlined payment plan. This new payment plan is the brainchild of Assistant Controller Pam Norton and Fiscal Systems Administrator Roberta Swanson. The plan then went through several revisions after feedback from many sources on campus, including the Tuition and Budget Committee.

This new plan reduces the different payment types that made for confusing student accounts. One student account was said to have been 60 pages by itself. Now, students pay all their tuition, campus privilege fees, and housing in one payment.

According to Norton and Controller Mari Mingenback, the new system works so well that a line formed in Plumb Hall from the cashier’s desk to the rotunda and was gone within half an hour.