NIU’s College of Law charges a non-refundable $50 application fee to cover the application process, which brings in about $70,000 annually.

Because of tight budgets, most law schools charge an application fee to cover recruiting costs, said Robert Snow, director of budget and records in the College of Law.

Snow said law schools don’t get enough state money so they use the $50 fee strictly for admission-related expenses.

Expenses include staff travel for recruitment of students, publications, transcript reviews, brochures and mailing purposes.

Judith Malen, director of admissions and financial aid in the College of Law, said the college always has had an application fee.

According to the College of Law Bulletin, the application fee was $20 in 1982 and 1983.

“It’s a very expensive process,” Malen said. “We use all that money for processing applications.”

The college, however, can waive the fee for students who have financial hardship, Malen said. In order to receive a waiver, applicants are required to submit a letter and supporting documentation.

While the graduate school already requires an application fee of $30, the office of undergraduate admissions currently is looking into a $30 application fee for the 2005 school year, said Robert Burk, director of undergraduate admissions.

If the proposal is approved, Burk said NIU will be the last university to begin charging an application fee of all other public state universities.

“We wanted to keep the overall cost down as low as we could for people attending NIU,” Burk said. “But it’s necessary to maintain some of the things we need to do in the university.”

If passed, Burk said the allocation of the fee is up to President John Peters and the provost. The proposed application fee has yet to be finalized by the Board of Trustees.

“The fee would be a definite new source of revenue for the university,” Burk said.

The College of Law is anticipating about 1,500 applicants for next year.