UTA is waiving some student fees for summer classes because of coronavirus
The University of Texas at Arlington is waiving four mandatory fees for summer 2020 semesters to reduce the financial burden on students.
The decision announced Thursday comes after at least two petitions asking for fees to be waived garnered thousands of signatures.
Fees for athletics, recreational facilities like the Maverick Activity Center, shuttle bus services and the student union are being waived.
Other mandatory fees remain in effect, such as those for services that are being offered virtually and services like computer labs that have been reconfigured to meet social distancing guidelines.
While the shuttle service is still operating on campus and the student union is still open, social distancing has pushed classes online and made these services obsolete to many students who aren’t on campus.
Many students expressed frustration over the fees before Thursday’s announcement.
Ileana Gamillo, a 21-year-old graduate student majoring in accounting, said she felt the fees were unfair and an attempt to make a grab for money that wasn’t needed. Cutting those fees would help remove at least a piece of the financial burden she was facing.
“That’s $100 in fees,” she said. “That’s $100 I could use toward paying off student loans.”
University spokesman Joe Carpenter said the university is doing this because it cares about student financial wellness.
University leaders “recognize the effects of the pandemic include significant economic impacts, and we hope the temporary elimination of these fees will help our students,” Carpenter said in a statement.
He pointed out that the university has an emergency assistance fund for students facing temporary financial troubles and is also working to distribute nearly $10.6 million from the CARES Act to eligible students, the same bill that provided economic stimulus checks to most Americans.
According to its website, UTA usually charges $39 per term for the student union; $75 per term for recreation fees; $8.50 per credit hour for athletics fees, up to $115; and $10 per term for the shuttle buses that provide transportation around campus and to places like nearby grocery stores.