Class registration for Spring 2018 has officially begun. The coming of a new semester brings new expenses, and it is important for students to be aware of what their tuition is going toward.
“For a resident, undergraduate student enrolled in 15 credit hours for Fall 2017, the tuition would be $4,945.25 [on average],” University Communications Manager Emily Schulze Binetti said.
Tuition and fee distribution for Fall 2017 consisted of a tuition payment of 50 dollars per semester credit hours (SCH) for residents and 465 dollars per SCH for non-residents. Mandatory fees are also included for all students, such as a 16 dollars per SCH student services fee, 100 dollars per semester student center fee, 34 dollars per SCH technology fee, 100 dollars per semester Recreational Sports fee, two dollars per semester international education fee, seven dollars per SCH library fee, 75 dollars per semester medical fee, 66 dollars per semester advisement fee, 12 dollars per semester records fee, 19 dollars per semester Bearkat One Card service fee, and a $19.75 per SCH Intercollegiate Athletic Program fee. All mandatory fees and tuition for an undergraduate student who resides on campus comes out to an average of $4,945.25 per semester.
Other course-specific fees may be included, such as an audit fee, Distance Learning fee, lab fee, music fee, international study fee, “Three-Peat” tuition, excessive hours tuition, payment plan enrollment fee, late installment payment penalty, The Woodlands Center fee and a multi-institution teaching center fee.
“For the 2017 fiscal year, the university generated $119.2 million in tuition,” Binetti said.
Texas State University System Board of Regents approved an increase in tuition and fees for SHSU at their regular quarterly meeting in Huntsville on Nov. 17. The approved mandatory tuition and fee changes will be effective Fall 2018 and include a six dollar increase to Designated Undergraduate Tuition, an $8.25 increase to Designated Graduate Tuition, a $3.50 increase to the library fee and a 25 cent increase to the Intercollegiate Athletic Program fee.
Additionally, authorization of a College of Science and Engineering Technology program fee of 50 dollars per semester is effective as of Fall 2019. This fee will apply only to students enrolled in specific degree programs within COSET.
“Addressing paying for services you don’t use, if we think beyond ourselves it’s beneficial for everyone who is a Bearkat,” SHSU Student Government President Briauna Augustus said. “I also believe that a lot of students don’t know what their fees entail and they claim they’re not using certain services when in fact they are. We have one of the lowest tuition amounts in this state, and not only that, but the amount of resources this university has to offer us outdoes many universities around Texas. It may seem excessive on the surface but you really don’t know how low our numbers are until you compare it to what are friends close by have to pay and with less service geared towards the students.”
Students can find more in-depth information on tuition and fee distribution by category, dollar amount, and percentage at http://www.shsu.edu/dept/bursar/fy2017/tuition-fees-info-fall17.html.
