Office of Planning & Budgeting

Required Student Fees

Fees at the University of Washington (UW) vary in their definition, application, and the process by which they are established or changed. Some fees exist to penalize inaction (parking tickets, library fines) or charge for goods and services (patient fees, parking fees, food sales), and some are required of all students while others are applied only in certain circumstances. This page will focus on fees required for all students. First is an overview of required student fees. Following that, you will find information on fee-setting authority at the University more broadly, then helpful links to other fee resources.

Required Student Fees

Tuition and fee information is available in several places on the UW website, including our Tuition & Fees page. This section attempts to categorize “required” fees by Washington state statutory reference, explain briefly the process by which fees are set, and indicate how fee revenue is spent. Required fees are those paid by every student who remits payment of tuition at the University.

At our Tuition History webpage, a twenty-year history of tuition and required fees is available by student category. Recent history for any category can be found on our Current Tuition and Fees Dashboards page. Services & Activities Fees (SAF), Technology Fees, and other debt-service related fees vary by campus, so it is important to also view campus-level detail (available on both webpages). Student Fiscal Services also maintains a page dedicated to student fees (both required and not).

Note that “S/B/T” indicates which fees are charged to students at Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma campuses respectively, though fee amounts may vary by campus.

Fee Name  Definition & Purpose Fee Changes Approved By Statutes & Approvals 
Operating Fee

(S/B/T)

Primary component of “tuition fees,” charged to students covers instruction-related expenses (e.g. faculty salaries). Board of Regents or WA legislature.  Board of Regents establishes operating fees for all student tuition categories except resident undergraduate tuition, which is restricted by 2ESSB 5954 (2015). 28B.15.031
Building Fee

(S/B/T)

Secondary component of “tuition fees,” charged to students for expenses related to capital infrastructure (e.g. minor works and preservation projects). The building fee is to pay for bonds, preventative maintenance, etc. Board of Regents.  Building fee amounts are derived as a percent of total tuition fees by student category, but formalized by the UW Board of Regents for all students. 28B.15.025 and 28B.15.210
New Student Enrollment and Orientation Fee

(NSEOF)

(S/B/T)

The New Student Enrollment and Orientation Fee (NSEOF) is a mandatory, one-time fee that all entering undergraduate students at the University of Washington pay to confirm enrollment. The NSEOF supports many academic and transition programs designed specifically to set students up for success. Board of Regents, in consultation with the President and Provost.

Student representatives provide recommendations for the NSEOF and the administration recommends fee changes to the Board of Regents for approval.

Executive Order No. 44
Services and Activities Fee

(S&A, SAF)

(S/B/T)

S&A fees were established to provide funding for student activities and programs or the payment of bonds to cover all or part of the cost of acquiring, constructing, or installing any lands, buildings or facilities.

Pays for Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), Hall Health services, etc. and bond payments.

Board of Regents, in consultation with Provost, Planning & Budgeting, Student Life, and student leadership. Students must vote on new debt service requirements. Expenditures are proposed by students and approved by the Board of Regents. 28B.15.041
Student Technology Fee

(S/B/T)

Revenue from this fee must be used exclusively for technology resources for general student use. Fee revenue is distributed by the Student Technology Fee Committee on each campus. Board of Regents, in consultation with Student Life, Planning & Budgeting, and student committees.  Expenditures are proposed by student committees and approved by the Board of Regents. 28B.15.041 and 28B.15.051
Activities & Recreation Center 

(ARC 1)

(B)

Fee revenue is used to pay debt service associated with the construction of the Activities & Recreation Center. Board of Regents in consultation with Student Facilities Advisory Committee.

Permissible as part of 28B.15.041.

First charged to students in 2015-16.

Activities & Recreation Center Programming

(ARC 2)

(B)

Fee revenue pays for programming at the Activities & Recreation Center. Board of Regents in consultation with Student Facilities Advisory Committee.

Permissible as part of 28B.15.041.

First charged to students in 2015-16.

Sports Field

(B)

Fee revenue is used to pay debt service associated with the Sports Field and associated recreational facilities. Board of Regents, in consultation with Bothell SAF.

Permissible as part of 28B.15.041 and 28B.15.610.

First charged to students in 2012-13.

Facilities Renovation Fee

(S)

Fee revenue is used to pay debt service associated with the renovation of the Husky Union Building, Ethnic Cultural Center, and Hall Health Primary Care Center. The fee ramped up to its full amount once students were able to access the facilities fully. Board of Regents, in consultation with Seattle SAF.

Permissible as part of 28B.15.041 and 28B.15.610.

The Facilities Renovation fee was approved by students and the Board of Regents, and was first charged to students in 2011-12.

Intramural Activities Building

(IMA)

(S)

IMA Bond fee revenue is used to pay debt service associated with the IMA building and associated recreational facilities. Board of Regents, in consultation with students and Seattle SAF.

Permissible as part of 28B.15.041 and 28B.15.610.

First charged to students in 2002-03.

Tacoma YMCA

(T)

UWT-Y fee revenue is used to pay debt service associated with the construction of the YMCA recreational facility. Board of Regents, in consultation with Tacoma SAF.

Permissible as part of 28B.15.041 and 28B.15.610.

First charged to students in 2014-15.

Student U-PASS

(S/T)

U-PASS fee revenue is used to buy students universal access to metro and transit systems (as well as a number of other benefits). The Universal Student U-PASS Advisory Board (Seattle) and the Transportation Advisory Board (Tacoma).  The student committee sets rates by working with the administration consistent with a Board of Regents approved MOU.

28B.15.610

Seattle student U-PASS was approved in 2011-12.

Tacoma student U-PASS was first charged to students in 2018-19.

Fee Setting Authority

Language authorizing the Board of Regents to increase various categories of fees is outlined in state law and is listed in Executive Order No. 44. In general, the Board approves tuition rates, and required fees like Services & Activities and Technology Fees, instructional costs, and residence hall rates in the spring (as part of the University’s annual budget or separate fee action items) and the University’s budget request to the state in the fall.

Additionally, the Board of Regents has delegated authority for review and approval of some fees to the President who, in turn, may delegate review and approval to the Provost and others. The President approves University-wide fees such as application and registration fees. Fee approvals delegated from the President to the Provost include fee-based program rates (self-sustaining non-state funded programs) and course fees in excess of $50 or 10% increases each year. Deans and Vice Presidents may approve new course fees under Provost approval thresholds, fees to ration services (like library fees), and fees for other auxiliary activities (continuing education, sports and arts tickets, etc.).

The only required student fee that the Board of Regents does not approve is resident undergraduate (RUG) tuition, which is governed by the legislature. Current policy (2ESSB 5954, 2015) restricts allowable tuition increases to an inflationary growth factor. As a result of Initiative 601, listed in Administrative Policy Statement 33.3, higher education institutions must also submit proposed percentage increases for required student fees by category as part of their budget request submission to the Office of Financial Management (OFM) and the legislature.

Additional Links