Up for Discussion: Where your fees check goes

You made out a check for fall quarter fees to the Regents of the University of California, and you know it is going toward a great education for your student. But at almost $3,500 a quarter, just where does the money go?

As the regents meet this month to consider proposed fee increases of $585 this academic year and a further increase of $1,344 for 2010-11, Aggie Family Pack picks up the calculator and breaks down this fall’s undergraduate resident fees.

Educational Fee: $2,296. This regents fee — uniform at all UC campuses — provides support for the universitywide operating budget and financial aid. Two-thirds is allocated to campuses as general funds, and the remaining third of the fee goes to financial aid.

Health Insurance: $349. UC undergraduates are required to pay this quarterly fee for health insurance unless they are able to prove comparable coverage under another plan.

Registration Fee: $300. This regents fee funds nonacademic services and activities in support of students, including counseling and advising services, learning skills services and student information systems. It also helps pay off the debt on two student facilities: Dutton Hall and the Memorial Union Building.

Campus Expansion Initiative: $134.60. UC Davis students passed a referendum to levy this fee, beginning in 2003, for:

• grants-in-aid for student-athletes, required for participation in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association;
• a new student health center now under construction;
• expansion of the Coffee House;
• improvements to the Unitrans bus service;
• funding for sports clubs and intramural sports;
• a student community center; and
• financial aid.

Facilities and Campus Enhancements Fee: $133.05. Students voted to approve this fee, effective in 1999, for the construction and maintenance of the Activities and Recreation Center (opened in 2004), the Schaal Aquatics Center (2004) and Aggie Stadium (2007); improvements to the Equestrian Center and other recreation programs; student recruitment and retention efforts; and financial aid.

Student Services Maintenance Fee / Student Activities and Services Initiative Fee: $106.50. The temporary Student Services Maintenance Fee was passed by students in response to budget cuts in the 1990s and later replaced by the Student Activities and Services Initiative fee. The fee goes toward Intercollegiate Athletics, intramural and club sports programs, recreation programs, the Pavilion, the Equestrian Center, the Cross-Cultural Center, and the Women’s Resource and Research Center.

Student Services Health Fee: $44. Students enacted this fee in 1997 to increase services offered by the Cowell Student Health Center.

ASUCD: $35. This fee, which came to be in 1934 as the result of a student referendum, provides support for the Unitrans bus service and the Associated Students of UC Davis, which represents undergraduates.

Memorial Union Fee: $28.50. These dollars fund capital improvements to the Memorial Union Building, which houses the ASUCD and other student programs.

Student Facilities Safety Fee: $22. Introduced by the chancellor in 1995, this fee funds seismic improvements made to the Memorial Union Building, South Hall and North Hall; and life-safety projects in other student services facilities. Some of the fee was recently redirected to financial aid.

Unitrans: $6. This fee, passed in a referendum and established in 2007, provides operating budget support and financial aid.

Total: $3,454.65