Sacramento State is proposing over $1000 in student fee increases over the next three academic terms, prompting sharp criticism from students who attended listening sessions between Aug.12-15.

The updated fee proposals come at a time when tuition across the CSU system is set to increase by 34% over the next five years. The tuition hike prompted protest marches to Sac State President Luke Wood’s office in April.

RELATED: Student protest takes over Sac State campus regarding 34% tuition increase

Many of the fees set to increase have not been updated in years, including the Instructionally Related Activities Fee, which has remained static for 31 years. According to the proposals, some services cannot meet the demands of a growing campus population.

The five fee increase proposals

Student Health Services Fee: Last updated in 2010, students paid $152 for the 2024-25 academic year for health, wellness, and mental health services.
Option One: increase the fee to $203 by 2027-28.
Option Two: $212 by 2027-28.

Instructionally Related Activities Fee: The $8 IRA fee has remained unchanged since 1993. Sac State proposes an increase to $310 in the 2025-26 academic year, with cost-of-living adjustment after 2028.

Recreational Sports Fee: Set at $19 with an annual fixed 3 percent escalator.
Option One: Raise the fee to $60 by 2027-28.
Option Two: Raise the fee to $90 by 2027-28.

Intercollegiate Athletics and Spirit Fee: Existing $181 primarily serves Sac State’s athletics programs, funding scholarships, travel, coaching staff, and equipment.
Option One: Increase fee to $206 in the 2025-26 academic year, with proposed yearly cost-of-living adjustment.
Option Two: Increase fee to $256 per year, with proposed yearly cost-of-living adjustment.

Non-Resident Fee: New and largest single fee in the proposals, intended to fund improved services and work opportunities for out-of-state and international students. The $500 fee would begin with the 2025-26 academic year.

“It’s never going to be popular to propose increasing the student fees,” Wood said. “When I was a student here, I fought adamantly against every single fee that came forward.”
Now standing on the opposite side of the conversation, President Wood and a team of faculty members held the listening sessions to explain the need for increased fees, and allowing students to voice feedback and potential opposition.

“The decision point was really around making sure that we are able to properly communicate to students who are in high school looking at colleges,” Wood said. “We wanted to make sure that we could be transparent and honest with them about what that cost looks like.”
Wood stated that over three times as much feedback regarding these fees has been submitted by students compared to previous listening sessions, but he remains open to more feedback as the fall semester approaches.

Mental health services were highlighted as an area that would see improvement by Jeanne Harris Van Dahlen, senior assistant vice president of Student Health, Counseling and Wellness Services.
“If you need to see a physician, a nurse practitioner or a psychiatrist, you should be able to walk in and see them that day,” Van Dahlen said.
Intercollegiate and recreational sports are also potential beneficiaries of the fee increase proposals, as additional funding may be used for maintenance of existing facilities and equipment to save on individual student costs.

Carl Reed, the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Facilities, Operations and Capital Projects at Sac State, spoke in favor of the increased Intercollegiate Athletics and Spirit Fee.
Reed stated the fee would lead to new scholarship opportunities, address years of deferred maintenance to facilities around campus and improve venues like Hornet Stadium for purposes beyond sports.

Athletic Director Mark Orr said on Thursday that the hope behind the proposals is to expand access to these facilities to more students, while addressing safety concerns.
“The athletics proposals benefit all students who enjoy these spaces on our campus,” Orr said. “ Quite frankly, from the athletics side of it, the spaces that we’re providing for them are not up to par.”

One of the more controversial fees proposed is the $500 Non-Resident Fee, consisting of half of all the proposed fee hikes. Shiva Pillai, Director of the Institutional Research, Effectiveness and Planning office described the fee as an investment into services necessary for a growing out-of-state and international student population, which is projected to make up as much as 10% of Sac State’s student body within the next eight years.

Despite the promised new services, Shachee Baraiya, senior management information systems and business analytics double-major from India, believes the new fee would fall short.
“We are already paying so much in fees, almost $10,000 just for 12 units,” Baraiya said. “Focus on how you can improve existing services first before introducing a new one.”
Even after efforts to highlight the benefits of all the proposed fees, support for the increases was relatively quiet.

Many students voiced criticism about the fee increases, and concerns about the additional financial burden. President Wood was also not immune from direct criticism, having left the Aug. 15 town hall session after his opening remarks.

“President Wood is the one who makes this decision, right? Where is he at?” third-year ethnic studies major William Robey said. “If he really cared about student input, he would have had this while school is in session.”

Jamarie Crawford, an incoming freshman Political Science major for the fall 2024 semester, was concerned about the increased fees and scheduled tuition increases.

“There is no way for me to continue to depend on FAFSA when you have all the other factors that are playing into making everything more expensive to attend,” Crawford said. “Currently I’m not working a job, so I am looking for one on campus right now.”

Molly Mellon, a third-year political science and journalism major, said that the new fees would make it difficult for students with tight finances to pay for on-campus housing and other expenses.
“Part of what they want to do is to focus on improving the culture at Sac State,” Mellon said. “But a lot of our students can’t focus on the culture because they’re so focused on where the next meal is going to be, if they’re going to have housing, how they’re going to get to school.”

Eliana Foster, an English major, walked away from the Aug. 13 town hall unconvinced by the presentations.

“How have you not considered how all the fees added up are going to affect your students?” Foster asked. “Not one person answered my question. I don’t think a $60 fee is that much, but it’s not just the $60, it’s the $60 on top of the $500 on top of the $300 on top of the other $100.”

If the Student Fee Advisory Committee recommends implementation of the new fees, 80% of the proposed increases would be felt as early as the 2025-26 academic year.