Fall 2020 Tuition and Fees Overview

Broad-based fees are charged to all enrolled students as a condition of attendance at UB and help UB fund activities and programs that benefit the student body, excluding those activities that are part of the core instructional program.

UB relies on these fees to sustain services that are available to you, regardless of how your instruction is delivered – in-person, remote, or hybrid.

These mandatory fees include:

1. Comprehensive Fee
2. Academic Excellence and Success Fee (ACES)

Fees continue to be assessed on a per credit-hour basis for part-time students (with the exception of the Transcript Fee).

To continue to offer programs and services that our UB students need and expect in the current SUNY, New York state, and UB budget climate, SUNY approved the following adjustments to the 2020-21 Comprehensive Fee. Requests for increases were limited to those deemed absolutely necessary and were limited to select student services.

• Overall, students will see a 2.03% increase in the Comprehensive Fee, including the addition of a new Career Services fee. Fees for a few select student services were increased. This includes:
  • 2.14% increase in the existing components of the Comprehensive Fee
  • A new $50 Career Services fee
• The Athletics Fee will be reduced by $53.00 to $212.75 for the fall 2020 semester. This is due in part to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) decision to pause the fall sports season as a result of COVID-19. 
• The Academic Excellence and Success fee (ACES) will remain at an annual rate of $525 for 2020-21.

Other components of the Comprehensive Fees that have increased for the 2020-21 academic year include:

• Campus Life — $7.50 increase
• Technology Fee — $24.50 increase 
• Student Health Fee — $26.00 increase

This mandatory fee was implemented in 1998 and is a consolidation of SUNY and campus-required fees that support several university services and programs. At UB, all components of the Comprehensive Fee are monitored and assessed by fee stewards from the units and departments responsible for providing those fee-funded services and programs.

Athletics Fee: This fee supports UB’s Intercollegiate Athletics programs, the operational costs for which are mainly fixed due to operational and contractual commitments, and do not vary based on student participation.

Campus Life Fee: This fee supports programs and facilities that enhance the student experience and promote the quality of campus life. Departments that receive support include (but are not limited to) Career Services, Student Conduct and Advocacy, Student Engagement, Veteran’s Affairs, Intercultural and Diversity Center, Student Unions.

Career Services Fee: This fee supports programs that enable students to explore careers early in their academic experience. Programs will help them discover their interests, build skills, and define a path to their desired careers. Students will create connections with peers, alumni and industry experts and build portfolios of out-of-classroom learning experiences that will give them a competitive advantage in the job market.

College Fee: This fee funds debt payments against building loans for new residence halls, as well as supporting some campus operations such as University Police.

Health Fee: This fee supports Health Services, Counseling Services, Health Promotion, and Accessibility Resources.

Recreation Fee: This fee funds recreation facilities, programs and services.

Technology Fee: UB’s reliance on technology has skyrocketed this year. The Technology Fee supports building and maintaining essential information technology services and infrastructure.

Transcript Fee: This fee allows students to receive as many official transcripts as they need at no additional charge.

Transportation Fee: This fee supports parking and transportation services for all students, including bus and shuttle services, parking services, lot maintenance, and ride sharing services (Zipcar, Express bus).

This fee supports the expansion of interdisciplinary faculty teams that provide new, relevant educational programs for UB students and that build UB’s competitiveness in attracting new research support to the university. This research support provides opportunities for graduate student research and an improved standing for UB in the national and international research community. It also supports building educational capacity (i.e., faculty, advising, infrastructure) to allow UB to offer more course sections in high-demand course areas.

Effective fall 2020, UB will automatically waive certain fees for students who meet the following criteria.

Fees (if applicable) waived for students enrolled in exclusively online academic programs and high school students who are enrolled in high school programs:

• Health Fee
• Transportation Fee
• Campus Life Fees
• Recreation Fee
• Athletic Fee

Fees waived for students in advanced degree programs in School of Management (including MBA), School of Dental Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and School of Law:

• Career Services Fee

Waivers will not be granted for the following fees:

• Academic Excellence and Success Fee (ACES)
• College Fee
• Technology Fee
• Transcript Fee

The following programs are the academic programs at UB that are available exclusively online, as of fall 2020. Students enrolled in these academic programs are eligible for Non-resident Online Tuition rates and are eligible for the Comprehensive Fee Waiver.

There are several opportunities for students to provide feedback on fee planning.

• Broad-based Fee Consultation Process: Consultation with our students on proposed fee amounts takes place every year, in accordance with SUNY Fee Policy. During this annual consultation period, UB engages the student population directly regarding proposed changes to Broad-based fee rates for the upcoming academic year. UB advertises and solicits this student feedback in a variety of ways, from advisory groups to surveys and email inquiries, and takes this feedback into consideration when submitting fee rate increases to SUNY.
• Students can share feedback on any of the Broad-based Fees at any time, or participate in advisory and programming committees.
• For more information on getting involved or to share your feedback, contact the respective fee contact listed below or your student government representatives.
• For more information on services provided by the fees, please review the Broad-based Fee expenditure reports* on the Broad-based Fee Consultation web page.

*2019-20 Actual Broad-based Fee revenue expenditure reports are expected to be available online by December 2020.

Course fees are charged only to students who are taking courses for which out-of-the-ordinary materials and supplies are required as part of the curriculum. Because UB can exercise its purchasing power to obtain products in bulk, these Course Fees save students money compared to what they would spend to purchase these materials individually. Examples of supplies, materials or services funded by Course Fees include:

• Software licenses
• Technology hardware
• Lab supplies and equipment (e.g., scientific chemicals and testing equipment)
• Special services required (e.g., piano accompanist for Dance courses; proper disposal of chemical or hazardous waste for Chemistry courses)
• Sketchbook portfolio for Design courses
• Art supplies, vellum, inks for Art courses
• Plotter, printer and CAD supplies for Architecture or Planning courses
• Extraordinary costs associated directly with degree, diploma, or certificate program delivery