UA to provide students with return of facilities fee increase

As previously detailed, The University of Akron (UA) began the 2015-2016 budget development process with the goal of resolving a $60 million fiscal challenge in its $470 million annual budget. The resulting plan, adopted in June 2015, called for $40 million of expense reductions, $10 million of fee increases, and $10 million of profitable enrollment growth over a three-year period.

The $10 million of planned fee increases included an increase to the University’s facilities fee, which is used to pay debt service charges on bonds that have been issued for construction of student services facilities. Students who attend classes on Akron’s Main Campus pay the fee.

Prior to the passage of the University’s FY 2015 – 2016 budget in June 2015, the fee had been $18.55 per credit hour per semester, up to a maximum of 12 credit hours (total -- $222.60). The University’s budget increased that fee to $28.50 per credit hour per semester up to a maximum of 12 credit hours ($342). Recently, in a routine annual review of University fees, state officials determined that UA’s facilities fee is a “general fee” and thus subject to the fee cap that was enacted by the state legislature last year, after passage of the University’s budget.

As a result, UA will refund the fee increase – currently estimated at up to a total of $4.1 million – to all affected students prior to the conclusion of the current semester. Individual amounts depend on the number of credit hours for which the student was registered and how the fee was actually paid. The maximum refund would be $238.80 per student for the two semesters.

Media contact: Wayne Hill, (O) 330-972-2148 or (C) 216-408-1211, or whill@uakron.edu.