By Mackenzie Viera |Staff Writer|
Coyotes in their junior or senior year seem to lack interest in the mandatory campus fees for the services they may or may not use.
CSUSB falls into sixth place of the cheapest colleges in California with an average tuition cost at $18,040, according to collegecalc.org.
However, after briefly interviewing students on the cost of attending CSUSB, many were not aware of what exactly they are paying for.
Let’s do the math. According to csusb.edu, the tuition fee per quarter is $1,824.
Below the total tuition, students seem to overlook the small print that states “mandatory campus charges.”
Multiply that amount by three quarters and you have $16,416. Leaving a mysterious amount of $1,624–most CSUSB students have no understanding of its allocation.
“Up until my junior year, I never knew what I was paying, or rather, what financial aid was paying for,” said student Jasmine Jett.
When logging on to mycoyote.csusb.edu, students are given the option to view their financial activity that explains where money goes.
For students who are well informed, they don’t need much explanation.
“Have you seen the gym? Even the walk to the gym looks mighty pricey,” said Vivian Fernandez. “Don’t get me wrong, the aesthetics of the campus are really nice, but it’s just unnecessary. I don’t need a hand scanner to get into a gym I never use.”
Some of the most discussed mandatory fees are the gym fee, $32.88, and the Student Union fee of $122.50 On the contrary, some students don’t mind the fees, and are actually motivated to use some of the facilities they are paying for.
“I use to pay sixty bucks every month to work out at Gold’s Gym,” said Eddie Palmer. “I didn’t know exactly how much I was paying for the school gym, but I guarantee it’s cheaper than what I use to pay.”
Students who were in favor of paying for the gym admitted to not using it, but plan to.
The Rec Center is a valuable resource that students should take advantage of, whether it’s running on the field, using weights, or even participating in intramural sports.
“I didn’t know we could play sports without actually being on the school team!” said Valerie Rose. “That’s actually cool. I would rather do that than pay for a new Vitamin Water fountain machine.”
Rose said she would prefer the money spent on Student Union fees to go towards resources that are more “productive.”
“There aren’t any healthy options in the Student Union, so I might as well go and do something productive that I’m foolishly paying for,” added Rose.
Although Rose claimed there are not any healthy options on campus, CSUSB has recently added The Market Place.
The Market Place, located next to the Social and Behavioral Sciences building, offers fresh coffee, healthy snacks and meals on the go.
Considering the students interviewed were juniors and seniors, not many expressed concern but rather focused on the fact that they wouldn’t have to pay them for much longer.
“They’re called ‘mandatory charges,’ what else are we suppose to do? We can’t refuse to pay and if we did, what? Are we going to be banned from the SU?” said Palmer.
Though we can take pride into being one of the cheapest colleges in California, many students feel misinformed and in some ways, ripped off.
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