Why College "Green Fees" Are Bogus

As many families continue to pinch the penny, steadily increasing U-bills aren't exactly welcome mail.

Just when inexpensive, high-quality higher education is most needed, families are faced with tuition hikes and increased mandatory fees. Universities nationwide continue to face their own budget crunches. What better way to avoid making huge cuts than to tack on another fee or two to the existing dozens?

We've all reviewed our annual bills and scratched our heads at those quizzical little deductions: What's that "Incidental Fee" all about, anyway? And what's with "Technology Fee," "Recreational Surcharge," "Dining Hall Stolen Items Fee"? An iPhone mandate? While each bit might not be much of a burden individually, private and public universities are increasingly tacking them on as back door tuition hikes and a way to make it through the recession. They add up fast; families could wind up spending an extra grand or two total in ambiguous fees.

A new wave of fees targets environmentally-friendly projects. Don't be surprised to soon find a "Green Fee" in the footnotes, as a growing number of colleges are mandating that students help fund renewable energy and energy efficiency on campus - projects like recycling programs, modernized heating and cooling systems, energy efficient lighting, and bio-diesel conversions for transportation, among others.

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education released a list of universities that already have such fees, which can range from $1 per semester, like at the University of Colorado at Denver, to the $40 per term at Wisconsin's Northland College. Fee increases are categorized under three revenue channels and must go toward purchasing renewable energy produced off-campus, funding renewable energy and conservation projects on-campus, or a combination of both.

According to The Green Initiative Fund, a leading initiative to promote sustainable development at UC Davis, for most large universities, a green fee has to first be voted on by the student body. It then must be approved by the administration, and sometimes also approved by the state legislature.

The remarkable thing is that a rising number of students want a self-imposed environmental fee and are willing to pay it in order to kick their campuses into green gear. Youth coalitions like Appalachian State's Renewable Energy Initiative, a student-led committee that presented a referendum asking "students boldly [agree] to tax themselves," saw 82% support from the student population.

Future-thinking projects are indeed worthy and respectable goals, and students should vigorously demand their universities invest in renewable energy and energy efficient undertakings. But many states are already steering money to colleges and universities for the purpose of avoiding fee hikes, and lots of schools are cashing in on the federal stimulus funds.

While they should be an involved part of green solutions, universities should not trade on student excitement about these issues to improve their bottom line. Not enough is being done to address the long-term issue of hefty fees that have been on a steady upward climb for a number of years, really adding up for suffering families. Meanwhile, the process of becoming more environmentally friendly is a responsibility of the universities first. It's not the students' job to hold their hands as they cross the street.