DeKALB | The NIU Board of Trustees voted last week to increase student fees by 5.55 percent for the fall semester.

Undergraduate students enrolled in 12 or more hours will pay $1119.44 – almost $60 more – next semester.

Given the amount they’ll have to pay, some students may wonder: Where does it all go?

Student fees, once collected, are divided into six parts and used to fund a variety of activities and services available to NIU students.

“A big component of the fee increase is to fund the minimum wage increase,” said Robert Albanese, associate vice president of Finance and Facilities Operations. “That money obviously benefits the students working on campus.”

Programming

Activities such as concerts, speakers and films, which are hosted by various groups in the NIU Student Association, will receive $45.12 from each undergraduate student’s collected fees.

Sports

Athletic departments will receive $179.88 from each student’s fees. This money funds NIU’s 17 Division I athletic programs and provides students with a valid NIU OneCard free entry to all home athletic events.

Transportation

The Huskie Bus Line, a service that is free for students who pay fees, will receive $80.40 from each student’s fees.

Scholarship

The Grants-in-Aid program, instituted as a merit-based scholarship opportunity, will receive $7.20 from each student’s fees.

Health Services

Health Services will receive $97.80 from each student’s fees to fund its health care programs. The student insurance fee is a flat fee charged regardless of credit-hour enrollment and is determined by the rate charged by the insurance company, Albanese said.

Student insurance, available only to full-time students, will cost $350 for next fall. However, students may opt to waive out of NIU insurance.

Bonds, revenue bonds

After all other departments have received their funds, the remaining $353.04 from each student’s fees will be allocated to revenue bonds.

Revenue bonds are involved in the funding of NIU’s non-academic facilities. The university sells bonds on an open market to fund buildings and land purchased. Rather than using government money, the bonds are paid back with student fees, according to NIU Finance and Facilities.

Revenue bonds have helped to fund the Campus Recreation Center, the Holmes Student Center, Huskie Stadium, the Convocation Center and west campus renovations and improvements.

“An example of one of the things we use the fee for is to fund better equipment for the Rec center,” Albanese said. “Those machines are in use all day, every day. It wouldn’t be good to go in to use an elliptical and find that four out of 10 aren’t working.”

Who decides how much students pay?

Student fees are determined by a representative group according to each department’s needs. Once determined, these recommendations are passed on to the president, who presents them to the Board of Directors