What are Special Fees?
A special fee is charged to students to recover the extraordinary costs of materials and supplies not normally covered by the instructional budget and fundamental to the special instructional activities associated with a specific course. These fees are listed in the Time and Room Schedule and are assessed to all students in the course. Billing and collection of such fees are handled through student billing and should not be collected by a department or faculty member. Special fees must be used solely for support of the courses involved.
Course/Special Fee Policy (PDF)
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Manuals and materials that are retained by the student and used in lieu of a textbook (University Copyright policies must be followed when printing copyrighted materials.)
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Materials and supplies consumed, retained, or used by the student, including, but not limited to, chemicals, solutions, gloves, filters, biological specimens, artists' media, glassware, photographic chemicals, course-specific software license fee, software retained by the student, and other one-time use items
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Breakage of lab supplies
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Special class activities (transportation, admission costs, meals, private music lessons, horsemanship lab)
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Instructional equipment (maintenance)
- Salaries, wages, and related benefits
- Honoraria
- Equipment (depreciation, replacement of equipment)
- Course syllabi, class schedules, tests, and quizzes
- Computers
- Software and software licenses (ongoing licenses)
- Faculty travel
- Capital- and infrastructure-related expenditures
Department submits Special Fee Approval Form with a clear outline of expenses associated with the fee. The department should use the Business Service Center as a resource in calculating fee and assigning the correct accounting information.
• Department Chair reviews and can reject based on criteria (above) or approve and forward to Dean's Office.
• Dean reviews and can reject based on criteria (above) or approve and forward to Provost's Office.
• Provost's Office reviews proposal and can reject based on criteria (above) or approve and forward to Registrar's Office.
• Special Fee Approval Form is forwarded to the Registrar's Office.
Special Fee Forms should be forwarded to the Provost's Office one week prior to the Registrar's published deadlines.
A special fee should be exceptional rather than routine and is not intended to replace normal budgeted support for instruction.
