By SUSAN JONES
In May 2019, the Board of Trustees Student Affairs committee voted to increase full-time undergraduate student activities fees on the Pittsburgh campus from $80 to $100 per semester, starting in fall 2019.
Those fees, and those at the regional campuses, were decreased by 20 percent for the 2020-21 school term because of the limited number of in-person activities possible during the pandemic.
Now, the committee has voted to restore those increases starting in fall 2021 and implement a wellness fee increase on the Oakland campus that was approved in 2019 but delayed because of the pandemic.
For part-time undergraduates and full-time College of General Studies and graduate and professional students, the activities fee will increase from $24 to $30 per semester. Part-time CGS and graduate/professional students will see an increase from $12 to $15.
The regional campuses also will see increases: Johnstown, from $72 to $90 for full-time undergrads; Bradford, from $80 to $100; and Greensburg, from $68 to $85. Part-time students will have slight increases. In addition, student recreation fees at Johnstown and Bradford that were reduced 20 percent for 2020-21 will be restored to their original amount — $76 at Johnstown and $90 at Bradford.
At the May 2019 meeting of the Student Affairs committee, Dean of Student Kenyon Bonner said that the fee has not increased since 2005, even though the number of student organizations has grown steadily.
The Student Wellness Fee will go up from $180 to $230 per semester for each full-time undergraduate and graduate student in Pittsburgh and from $90 to $115 per term for each part-time undergraduate and graduate student, effective fall 2021. The wellness fee was increased from $130 to $180 in fall 2019 and another $50 was supposed to be added in fall 2020, but was delayed because of the pandemic.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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