San Diego State students are voicing their opposition to high fees through a Change.org petition demanding refunds for campus service fees not provided due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The petition, which has nearly reached its goal of 5,000 signatures, was created by communications and television, film and media senior Kelsey Santin over her concerns of increasing fees while most students aren’t on campus.
“Students are not receiving an interchangeable quality of education and educational experience, which were promised and therefore expected upon their commitment to the university,” Santin writes in the petition. “A lessened quality of education should be met with lessened tuition.”
The frustration over tuition comes just weeks after SDSU informed its on-campus population that a stay at home order was in place due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
“Many of the things included in our tuition and fees are inaccessible,” Santin said of students off-campus. “Like the gyms, pools, fields, library, student union, campus stores, health center, etc. If we lose resources which are included in pricing, then we should receive reduced and fair pricing.”
Santin herself is not living on campus, but a lot of students who have signed the petition, like business administration junior Dustin Do, feel the same way.
“Given the circumstances, I don’t believe students are utilizing the services on campus nor do I think most of them are even available at this time,” Do said. “Therefore, it makes no sense that we have to pay full tuition.”
Other supporters of the petition like physical therapy sophomore Hunter Gauthier claim the school risks pushing away its students.
“This is the school telling its students that it only cares about the money,” he said. “If the administration keeps this greedy capitalistic mindset up, many students will take the Spring 2021 semester off and focus on work or internships.”
Santin’s petition calculates the university should return between $884 – $989 each semester to students due to the services unable to be utilized. She also requests the university refund these fees for the Spring and Summer semesters in 2020 which were transitioned to online as well.
“All CSU students are facing this exact problem of unfair tuition and pricing,” Santin said. “SDSU is a great school, and under normal circumstances these prices are fair, at times high, but fair. These are not normal circumstances however.”
For more information on coronavirus at SDSU, visit the university’s official COVID-19 webpage.
