Fewer activities mean lower fee for most Utah colleges and universities

Many of Utah’s colleges and universities are reducing student fees for the fall semester in response to reduced activities and the receipt of federal COVID-19 relief funding.

The University of Utah will provide a $150 credit to all students to reduce fees for the fall 2020 semester, a 25 percent reduction the school says comes after consultation with other university administrators across the state’s public colleges and universities.

Utah State will also provide a $150 fee reduction for its students, while Southern Utah announced a 40 percent reduction in student fees which amounts to an average savings of $152.70 per student.

“We are sensitive to the fiscal challenges faced by our students at this time,” said Utah associate vice president for budget Mark Winter, adding the reduction comes from a variety of fee programs.

In a letter to its campus, SUU President Scott L. Wyatt said the reduction in student fees is tied to a reduction in student athletic fees, among others. With the Big Sky Athletic Conference’s decision to postpone fall sports in light of the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no intercollegiate varsity sports on campus in the fall of 2020.

Similar decisions by the Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences have also been implemented at Utah and Utah State, respectively.

In addition to the $150 reduction on its main campus in Logan, Utah State will also reduce student fees by $95 on its satellite campuses.

Utah public colleges have received close to $100 million in extra funding from the CARES Act provided by the U.S. Department of Education. The amount of funding ranged from $23 million for the state’s largest public university, Utah Valley University in Orem, to $2.4 million for the smallest, Snow College in Ephraim. The University of Utah received $18.8 million in CARES Act funding, while Utah State was allocated $17.4 million.