7.2.1.1 Personal Property and Service Charges

Related Minnesota State Board Policy:Policy 5.11 Tuition and Fees

Related Minnesota State Board Procedure: Procedure 5.11.1 Tuition and Fees

Purpose:To provide guidelines for assessing course fees, lab fees, college and program fees, and differential tuition

The purpose of these guidelines is to determine when it is appropriate to assess course fees, lab fees, supplemental fees, college and program fees and differential tuition and to help ensure compliance with applicable statutes and policies. Mandatory fees and optional fees are outlined within Normandale Policy 7.2 and Procedure 7.2.1 and are not included within these guidelines.

Part 1. Personal Property and Service Charges.

Personal property fees are charged for items that become the personal property of a student and have an educational or personal value beyond the classroom. Personal property charges include items that are retained by the student. Service charges shall be for services for or on the behalf of the student. Fees may not be charged for consumable supplies, nor for system on-campus and off-campus facilities costs related to instruction.

Individual personal property and service charges shall be approved by the Provost. The approximate fee range or rate shall be available to students at the time of registration. A list of these fees shall be available to students upon request at the campus. Fees are determined based on actual costs and can include but are not limited to fees for such items as follows.

Subpart A. Personal property. Personal property is that property retained by the student and having value outside of the classroom. Personal property may include, but is not limited to, tools, books, materials, and supplies retained by the student, official transcripts, identification cards, and replacement or additional diplomas.

Subpart B. Service charges.

Service charges shall include:

Equipment, including special leases or rentals of laptop computers as required by an institution or program. Situations requiring students to purchase or lease college-wide technology shall be reviewed by the technology fee advisory committee and the campus student association(s) shall be consulted.
Special testing, including testing for counseling (e.g. career interest inventories, type indicators, etc.), occupational certification, retesting of entry level assessment, and optional testing requested by the student. This fee shall not be charged for initial entry assessment or required outcome assessment.
Other instructional services, such as:
1. additional instructional costs not included in tuition, but paid by the student to a private vendor (e.g. theater tickets, bowling lane rentals, green fees, ski lift tickets, etc.) may be a service charge and must be identified at the time of registration.
2. fees for private lessons associated with a credit-bearing course (e.g. voice or instrument, art, etc.) may be charged in addition to tuition.
3. digital access materials and software licenses required for the course and are personal to the student and retained by the student
Other non-instructional services provided to students for their personal benefit, such as legal services, health services, and insurance.
Assessments to discourage a behavior such as a library overdue charge, an NSF bank charge or restitution charge to pay for damage incurred.
Actual course-related travel costs required for transportation, room, board and other expense incurred by students in the course of travel related to an instructional activity. These charges must be identified at the time of registration.

Subpart C. Lab fees

Lab fees are fees specifically associated with lab, clinical, or studio credits. These fees must follow the personal property and service charge direction. These fees cannot contain consumable items that are part of the course offering. Lab fees may only be charged if the item (membership, materials, supplies) is retained by the student and has value outside the classroom. If a lab course has a kit that requires some items be returned, a fee may be charged to the student if they do not return the items.

Subpart D. Tuition differential and program fees

Normandale may charge a different tuition amount by course or program when special circumstances exist. The decision should be based on the extraordinary cost of offering the course or academic program (e.g., need for specialized equipment and supplies; accreditation standards; delivery methods; offsite locations; online courses; additional required technology for students, faculty or delivery; clinical experience; hour-based requirements; additional faculty time/credits) or an effort to incentivize enrollment in a specific course or program. Setting tuition by program assigns a per credit price for all the core courses in an academic program, regardless of whether or not the student is degree-seeking within that program. Setting tuition by course assigns a per credit price for an individual course, based on the unique circumstances of that course. Differential course and program tuition rates are reviewed by system office personnel for compliance with procedure and approved by the board as part of the operating budget process. Normandale must maintain documentation regarding differential rates including costs included in the differential charge.

Part 2. Process for establishing course fees as enumerated above

Departments seeking to establish or adjust a student fee shall submit a Request and Approval Form for Student Course Fees to the Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The proposal shall include
1. Justification for the fee and rationale for fee amount
2. Course name(s) and designator(s)
3. Duration of the fee (is this a one time fee? Should it continue into future terms?)
The Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designee), in consultation with the Vice President of Administration (or designee), shall review the request and notify the department if the fee has been approved via a signed proposal sheet. Once approved, departments will need to work with the Fiscal Services office to confirm the appropriate cost center.

Part 3. Process for establishing tuition differentials and program

Individuals, departments, or divisions seeking to establish or adjust a tuition differential or program fee shall submit a request in writing to the Vice President of Administration.
The proposal shall include
1. Justification for the tuition differential or program fee with rationale for fee amount.
2. Documentation of student consultation. All tuition decisions require student consultation requirements as required by Minnesota State Board policy.
3. Other related details or impacts.
4. Duration of the fee and where revenue is credited.
The Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designee), in consultation with the Associate Vice President of Finance (or designee), shall review the request and notify the department if the fee has been approved via a signed proposal sheet. Once approved, departments will need to work with the Fiscal Services office to confirm the appropriate cost center.

Part 3. Annual review of campus fees

No later than April 15 of each year, the Office of Academic Affairs shall send a notice to all departments with a list of student fees that displays all of the course fees by term and by course. The notice will

ask departments to:

Verify the continuance of annual fees
Verify the continuance of semester fees
Note any fees to discontinue
Note any changes in the amount of the fee (minimal changes will be approved through this review process; significant changes will require the completion of a request for a new fee)

This response will be tracked and submitted to the Fiscal Services Office by May 15. Approved fees will be added to courses by the Dean’s Assistants and published on the college website.

Policy History: New

Department Owner: Administration (Finance)

Date of Adoption:

Date of Implementation: May 2023

Date and Subject of Revisions:

Next Review Date (3 years): May 2026