USG approves programming fee increase


Undergraduate Student Government approved a resolution at their meeting Tuesday evening that would raise the organization’s programming fee by $1.50 each semester. The student programming fee is used to fund on-campus events, such as Conquest! and Springfest.

Rising costs · USG Treasurer Julie Stripe (above) presented on behalf of the committee and said programming fees have not kept pace with tuition.  - Kevin Fohrer| Daily Trojan

Rising costs · USG Treasurer Julie Stripe (above) presented on behalf of the committee and said programming fees have not kept pace with tuition. – Kevin Fohrer| Daily Trojan

USG’s unanimous approval of the resolution was spurred by the the findings of a Student Programming Fee Committee. USG Treasurer Julie Stripe, who presented on behalf of the committee, said that the current fee hasn’t been raised in four years and doesn’t account for inflation.

The committee, made up of USG members and a “student at large,” researched other universities’ programming budgets. They looked at the comparative costs of events, such as concerts, in determining that the programming fee should be raised.

The committee also took into account the results of semester course evaluations, which ask whether students would agree to a slight increase in tuition for programming events.

“Sixty-four percent of students agreed they would like to have an increase in the fee,” Stripe said.

On the basis of its findings, the committee recommended raising the fee by $1.50 per semester. Though the amount could have been higher, USC stipulates that the combined growth of the student services fee, student programming fee and student health service fee can’t exceed the percentage of growth in tuition.

“It was an increase that would be accepted by the administration,” Stripe said.

Stripe added that there can be negative consequences of increasing the fee by too high a margin.

“You don’t want to raise a fee so much that the next [USG] administration isn’t sure what to do with the money, and ends up using it inappropriately,” Stripe said.

Though an excess of funds could be problematic, USG members believe that a lack of funds is much worse. Without adequate programming fees, many students are denied funding for planned events.

“Each semester I get requests for thousands and thousands of dollars that I just can’t fill,” Stripe said. “They’re all good ideas. We just don’t have the budget.”

Stripe said that while the programming budget is currently a hindrance, it can become an asset in the future.

“We’re not able to put on the same level of events that we once were … In three years, I’d hope that we’d be able to put on all the events students want,” Stripe said.