Partnering with Student Government Association President Jeanette Morelan and Treasurer Jonathan Rankin, the Vision has obtained an exclusive breakdown of the consolidated student fee from Belmont’s Chief Financial Officer Steve Lasley.
If a student takes 12 or more credit hours, then he or she is charged $670 each semester. For four to 11 hours, the fee is $460 and for up to three hours the total is $185, according to the Student Financial Services’ 2014-15 cost estimator on Belmont’s website.
The fee generated around $8 million for the 2014-2015 year alone, said Lasley.
Administration consolidated the academic enrichment fee and other fees in the 2001-2002 year to accommodate students who commented they were charged for things they were not participating in, he said.
“We added everything together to make the consolidated student fee.”
Controversy surrounded the fee at last November’s Vision 2020 Town Hall, where former resident assistant Danny Zydel asked President Bob Fisher about how the money is allocated.
Fisher did not provide any hard numbers at the Town Hall, but said he would “make that available.”
Here is the breakdown in its entirety of where approximately $8 million worth of student fees go–back to students.