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Tech Spec: The Cost of College

Fees go toward updating ASU's server and Blackboard. Photo by Courtland Jeffrey.
Fees go toward updating ASU's server and Blackboard. Photo by Courtland Jeffrey.

College students spend money; it is a necessary evil in the world of penny pinching. This pain in the wallet may grow, as there are talks about an increase in the “technology fee” that students already pay.

This fee, which is currently set at $50, would be increased (supposedly to $55) to better cover the costs of ASU’s technological needs, like the servers and Blackboard.

Fees go toward updating ASU's server and Blackboard. Photo by Courtland Jeffrey.

According to ASU’s website, the technology fee that students are required to pay “partially covers the cost of ASU’s voice and data network infrastructure.” In other words, this fee covers most of our technological needs on campus. Upon hearing this, I asked myself, why should ASU’s technology fees rise?

Raising this fee could help bring necessary upgrades to the campus, like better Wi-Fi, improvements upon the online Blackboard service and better technology integration in classrooms. But one problem that catches my eye is that the (previously defined) technology fee is pretty vague about where exactly this money goes.

Anthony Ricci, President of the Barrett East Hall Council, brought up this vagueness and other issues with the fee when we spoke about the possible increase. Ricci feels that it should be easier for students to technologically connect (and that this fee increase could support that), but he has his doubts about the allocation of the funds.

“ASU is trying to shortchange us,” Ricci says. “We don’t need to be constantly buying computers for classrooms.”

When I spoke to Monica Barton, a sophomore engineering major, she had positive feelings towards the potential fee increase. She brought up the point that ASU does not cover all of the dorms with wireless internet

“[The fee increase] would be beneficial, because the towers on the northern side of campus have to buy their own routers for wireless internet,” Barton says, with hopes that this fee would bring better wireless internet integration around the entire campus.

This possible increase could greatly aid in ASU’s technological future, but with the uncertainty of fund allocation, the utility is unknown. If this fee increase does come to be, I think that it will hurt our bank accounts, but further benefit our education (so long as we are informed about where exactly our money is going). Whether you like it or not, prepare yourselves for the possibility to spend more money next tuition season.

 

If you have any questions or comments, please message me on Twitter @Court_Jeffrey or via email at cejeffre@asu.edu. Enjoy!


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