Nursing and design students may see an increase in program fees next year if the Arizona Board of Regents approves proposals to be submitted by the schools this semester.
The College of Design is requesting a $600-per-year increase in program fees, bringing the total cost to $980 per year for each undergraduate student, said Chantel Powers, director of academic affairs for the College of Design.
Because some schools operate at a higher cost than tuition, extra fees are necessary to provide specialized resources.
“The purpose of the fee is to enhance the learning opportunities for our undergraduate students,” Powers said.
Money from the fee would go to support scholarship funds, specialized computer software and technological infrastructure, she said.
Powers said the program fees give students access to critical tools and experiences that provide a competitive edge over other design schools.
The school has used the fee to build its digital lab, which gives students the tools needed to design, print and create projects with advanced technology.
“The fees that will be collected here will help our college and our students engage at a different level,” Powers said. “When they graduate, they will be more competitive with other students in the marketplace.”
The Arizona Board of Regents reviews all fee proposals to make sure they are justified and practical, said Mark Denke, assistant executive director for ABOR.
Denke said the board checks that no fee proposal is priced so high that it hinders access to a program.
“There are special costs that are not normally associated with the delivery of the program,” Denke said. “[The proposals] are basically seen as requests that go beyond ... the base tuition.”
Denke said the decision to use program fees to offset recent budget cuts is left to the schools, but they must indicate if they are doing so in their proposal to ABOR.
In an interview last week, ASU President Michael Crow identified the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation among other schools that may request programming fees from ABOR this year.
The nursing school was not able to provide specific information Wednesday regarding the fee proposal.
Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.
