Every semester, students spend thousands of dollars to attend Bloomsburg University but rarely are aware of everything they are paying for. Students receive a billing notification twice a year and without fail, blindly pay the bill and move on with their day. Does anyone even know where all that money is going? There are the basic expenses like room, board, and tuition, but few students know what is actually included in the fees portion of the bill.
One of the fees that Bloomsburg University students must pay is the “student success fee.” This fee charges each student $310.75 per semester for 12+ credits and $26 per credit for one to eleven credits. To get a better understanding of what the student success fee is, Claudia J. Thrush, Director of Finance and Business Services at BU, offers some of her insight: “The student success fee was implemented in fall 2016 to ‘maintain or enhance student academic support services, experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom and other initiatives that contribute to student success.” Thrush then explained where this money goes directly: “The fee revenue is deposited in the E&G general fund and is used to offset the costs associated with student success initiatives. Some examples include: educational advisement, tutoring, supplemental instruction/learning, and many other things.” She also clears up that this fee is important because it, “allows Bloomsburg University’s quality educational experience to continue with a reasonable contribution from each student.” It allows Bloomsburg to still be a reasonable price without having to sacrifice any quality.
Thrush knows quite a lot about this fee but that’s not the case for some Bloomsburg University students. When ten students were polled, none of the students were aware of this fee or its benefits. Freshman Taylor Campbell said, “I never thought to research all of the different fees we pay. Hearing about this fee to me is a complete shock because I have no idea what it is.” Sophomore Chloe Berridge responded, “I have never heard of this fee, and I feel like the university charges us for things and then we don’t know where the money goes or what it is used for.” It is important for the university to make sure that students are not only aware of what each fee is, and the ways they can use these services they are paying for to their advantage.
After informing these students what this fee was and why they pay it, they gave some opinions on how they felt about it. Campbell said: “I think that after knowing what this fee is and what the money goes towards, it makes a lot of sense.” Berridge responded: “I understand why they charge us each semester for it[…] Student success is very important, and it seems like the school is aware of that.”
If students are unaware of what certain fees are or why they pay them, they can find more information on Bloomsburg University’s website under fees and charges.