# Student fee

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Educational charge in addition to tuition fee

A **student fee** or **student activity fee** is a [fee](/source/Fee) charged to students at a school, college, university or other place of learning that is in addition to any [matriculation](/source/Matriculation) and/or [tuition fees](/source/Tuition_payments). It may be charged to support [student organizations](/source/Student_organization) and [student activities](/source/Student_activities) (for which it can be called an **activity fee**) or for [intercollegiate](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/intercollegiate) programs such as [intramural sports](/source/Intramural_sports) or [visiting academics](/source/Visiting_scholar); or, at a [public university](/source/Public_university) or college, as a means to remedy shortfalls in [state funding](/source/Subsidy) (in which case it can often be called a **technology fee**).[1] Further fees may then be charged for features and facilities such as insurance, health and parking provision.

## United States

### Constitutionality of activity fees

In the United States, the [constitutionality](/source/Constitutionality) of [mandatory](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mandatory) student activity fees has been adjudicated several times by the [Supreme Court](/source/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States).[2] Most recently, the Court has ruled that public universities may subsidize political groups by means of a mandatory student activity fees so long as the manner in which such funds are dispersed are political neutral.[3]

[T]he First Amendment permits a public university to charge its students an activity fee used to fund a program to facilitate extracurricular student speech, provided that the program is viewpoint neutral.”

— Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth et al.

Despite the commentary of the US Supreme Court, most student activity fee funds are today used by-and-large for non-political purposes.[1]

[Research has] found that, by and large, funds distributed by student governments go to non-political organizations. Where fees are used for political groups, the distribution seems to reflect the preferences of the student body; thus, they meet the Supreme Court’s “viewpoint neutral” standard.

— Jenna Ashley Robinson, Student Activity Fees: Who Gets What and Why?

### Student fee cases

- *[Rosenberger v. University of Virginia](/source/Rosenberger_v._University_of_Virginia),* 515 U. S. 819 (1995)

- *[Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth](/source/Board_of_Regents_of_the_University_of_Wisconsin_System_v._Southworth)* [529](/source/List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_529) [U.S.](/source/United_States_Reports) [217](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/529/217/) (2000)

## Examples

### University of New Hampshire

The Student Activity Fee of the [University of New Hampshire](/source/University_of_New_Hampshire) is relatively unique amongst other comparable institutions of secondary education in that the fee is administered by its [autonomous student government](/source/University_of_New_Hampshire#Student_government), free from faculty or staff advisors.[4][5] During [fiscal year](/source/Fiscal_year) 2019, all [undergraduate](/source/Undergraduate_education) students attending UNH paid $89 towards their fee.[5][6]

## See also

- [Higher education in the United States](/source/Higher_education_in_the_United_States)

- [College tuition in the United States](/source/College_tuition_in_the_United_States)

- [Education portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Education)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_1-1) Robinson, Jenna. ["Student Activity Fees: Who Gets What and Why?"](http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/articles/studentfees_v6%5B1%5D.pdf) (PDF). *www.johnlocke.org*. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia"](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1994/94-329). *Oyez*. Jun 29, 1995. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Board of Regents , University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth"](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1999/98-1189). *Oyez*. Mar 22, 2000. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Student Senate"](https://www.unh.edu/student-senate). *University of New Hampshire*. 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_5-1) ["Student Activity Fee"](https://www.unh.edu/mub/student-activity-fee). *Memorial Union & Student Activities*. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Student Activity Fee Committee"](https://www.unh.edu/student-senate/safc). *University of New Hampshire*. 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2018-12-16.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Student fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_fee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_fee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.