Have you ever wondered where our tuition and fees go?

As students, we pay so much for our schooling whether it be out of pocket or with help from financial aid. But where does it go and how much of this investment returns to us?

Last semester, we learned about the extravagant spending of Dean of Extended Learning Michael Schro eder. On Feb. 13, President Neufeldt confirmed the independent investigation by the CSU Chancellor’s Office revealed that Schroeder took advantage of his position at CSUSM and used university funds for his personal benefit.

The situation brought up the question of where our tuition money goes and how it is being spent for the betterment of the students, making us scratch our heads wondering if the money we paid to attend CSUSM was part of the money being spent.

For starters, we know that there are multiple fees along with the tuition that are for the benefit of the students. If you didn’t know, a total of $95 goes to health services alone, so we the students can utilize health care services whenever we need them.

This is understandable because a lot of us college students cannot afford to have proper health care unless we are under a plan with our parents, spouse, etc. A part of the fees also covers the mental health clinic as well. This alleviates the stress off our shoulders a bit knowing that part of the money we pay to the school is for our benefit.

There are other fees for services on campus like Academic Records, ASI and Childcare Services that you can find listed in your myC SUSM portal under account activity. But the amount in question is the main tuition fee, the bigger number.

There are multiple possibilities of how this amount is distributed. My thoughts on where this amount goes are the more logical option; our units and classes.

Depending on how many units you are taking during the semester, the amount accumulates. On the CSUSM Student Financial Services website, they give full explanations about where the multiple fees, including tuition, are distributed to. Their website states, “The tuition fee is used to support the basic instruction and other mandatory university costs. It includes Undergraduate, Graduate, PostBac, Credential, and the Education Doctorate.”

As we continue to pay for our schooling during our time here at CSUSM, there is no harm in wondering where all this money goes. It’s kind of like when we prepare our taxes every year, wondering how the government is going to distribute the funds for the betterment of our society.

We are always going to wonder where all this goes all the time. Especially after this spending being released to the public last September, there are going to be questions directed towards the administration on how this extravagant spending was not caught before getting out of hand. The more you think about it, the more questions the situation raises.

As a student body, we should be aware of what is going on with all aspects of the university that affect us, especially when it involves the hard-earned money a majority of us pay in order to have a seat in a classroom.

All we can hope for at this point is for transparency from the administration on what is going on and move on from there to build a better understanding with one another.