Joe Undergrad: So, i'm shelling out $5,085.82 per quarter, where does that money go?
UCD: Straight down the toilet! No, I kid...
Here's the breakdown according to the UC Davis Budget Office. All numbers are for full-time students. Also see Getting the most out of your student fees.
California Full-Time Undergrad (2012-13)
| Service |
| Qtr |
| Year |
| ASUCD Fee |
| $35.00 |
| $105.00 |
| Memorial Union Fee |
| $28.50 |
| $85.50 |
| Facilities and Campus Enhancements Fee |
| $134.83 |
| $404.49 |
| Campus Expansion Initiative |
| $179.88 |
| $539.64 |
| Student Services Maintenance Fee and Student Activities and Services Initiative Fee* |
| $111.61 |
| $334.83 |
| Student Facilities Safety Fee |
| $22.00 |
| $66.00 |
| Student Services Health Fee |
| $44.00 |
| $132.00 |
| Unitrans |
| $6.00 |
| $18.00 |
| Student Health Insurance Plan1 |
| $460.00 |
| $1,380.00 |
| Student Services Fee |
| $324.00 |
| $972.00 |
| Tuition |
| $3,740.00 |
| $11,220.00 |
| Total Resident |
| $5,085.82 |
| 15,257.46 |
| Nonresident Supplemental Tuition |
| $7,626.00 |
| $22,878.00 |
| Total Nonresident |
| $12,711.82 |
| $38,135.46 |
If you are going to pay this much for an education, then you better know how to get the most out of your student fees. Or you might want to get some scholarships to help defray the costs.
Notes: Though Unitrans has a separate fee of $6, an additional $22.50 of the ASUCD Fee — the vast majority thereof — goes to Unitrans.
Tuition used to be called "educational fee", because under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, California residents pay no tuition for university, only fees. This joke lasted until 2011, when the Ed Fee had exceeded $10,000 annually. Nonresident tuition was renamed Nonresident Supplemental Tuition, and the UC Regents continued to raise fees to their heart's content.
Politics
UC Council on Student Fees is the official student advisory voice on system wide matters regarding the use of Registration Fees and on the provision of Student Services. Naturally, they aren't that powerful and no one really listens to them. The Regents do seem to listen to Governor Jerry Brown, though, as he has seemingly arranged for fee freezes in 2012 and 2013.
Historic Student Fees
Here's some history of how much people paid for campus based fees.
| Year |
| QuarterlyASUCD Fee |
| QuarterlyReg fee |
| Reason for ASUCD increase |
| 1965-66 |
| $5.00 |
| $73.00 |
| 1966-67 |
| 5.00 |
| 73.00 |
| 1967-68 |
| 5.00 |
| 73.00 |
| 1968-69 |
| 5.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1969-70 |
| 5.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1970-71 |
| 5.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1971-72 |
| 7.00 |
| 100.00 |
| EOP Grant - $2 |
| 1972-73 |
| 7.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1973-74 |
| 7.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1974-75 |
| 9.00 |
| 100.00 |
| ASUCD General Fund -> $8 |
| 1975-76 |
| 9.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1976-77 |
| 9.00 |
| 100.00 |
| 1977-78 |
| 9.00 |
| 116.00 |
| 1978-79 |
| 9.00 |
| 116.00 |
| 1979-80 |
| 10.00 |
| 124.00 |
| 1980-81 |
| 10.00 |
| 143.00 |
| 1981-82 |
| 13.00 |
| 156.00 |
| Unitrans Fee - $3 |
| 1982-83 |
| 13.50 |
| 170.00 |
| Unitrans Fee - $3.50 |
| 1983-84 |
| 13.50 |
| 170.00 |
| 1984-85 |
| 14.50 |
| 170.00 |
| Unitrans Fee - $4.50 |
| 1985-86 |
| 14.50 |
| 170.00 |
| 1986-87 |
| 14.50 |
| 170.00 |
| 1987-88 |
| 14.50 |
| 188.00 |
| 1988-89 |
| 15.00 |
| 197.00 |
| Cal Aggie Camp - $.50 |
| 1989-90 |
| 15.00 |
| 204.00 |
| 1990-91 |
| 23.50 |
| 214.00 |
| Unitrans - $13 |
| 2007-08 |
| — |
| — |
| article about fee increase |
Approved fee increases for 2010-2011 school year — article UC Regents / UC Office of President approved raising student fees by 32 percent and charging $1,000 more for engineering students. The approval also includes a 7.5% fee increase beginning Spring Quarter 2010.
Beginning in the Fall Quarter of 2011, fees will increase by another 17.6%. source
Footnotes
1. Students must purchase health insurance unless they can prove that they already have it
