Raised college fees make up for shortfalls

ATLANTA, July 28 (UPI) -- Colleges are trying to compensate for tighter state funding and all-but-static tuition by adding mandatory student fees, officials said.

Georgia's public universities will charge 3 percent more in tuition this autumn, but the fees make the amount leap to an average of 9 percent more than last year, USA Today reported Thursday.

University System of Georgia spokesman John Millsaps in Atlanta said the fees are temporary and make up for budget shortfalls.

"It keeps the lights on. It pays the faculty. It pays for all the things that tuition covers," he said.

Indiana University-Bloomington will add a $180 "temporary repair and maintenance fee" this autumn to be doubled next year. Freshmen and transferees at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale will pay a one-time $150 matriculation fee. Georgia Tech freshman will pay fees totaling $2,370, which amounts to a quarter of the annual college costs, USA Today reported.

Some state legislators' are calling for fee transparency, the newspaper said.

In Colorado, a law was passed this summer enabling students to more easily question fee charges.