No, That’s not a typo on your new tuition bill. Fees have gone up again.

In the face of a huge budget crisis, UMB has been forced to impose incremental fee increases of $750 per semester in addition to the fall semester’s $500 hike. The state has cut public education funding by 30% over the last three years, and the future is not rosy. UMass students have to pick up the difference, even after painful budget cuts here at our fair campus.

In a memo mailed last week to all those enrolled in courses for next semester, Chancellor Jo Ann Gora expressed her sympathies to the UMB student body for the imminent tuition fee hikes.

In the memo, Gora assured students that the Board of Trustees is well aware that such steep fee hikes will severely hinder many students’ ability to afford a UMB education, and strongly encouraged any students whose financial standing is affected by the fee hike to apply for financial aid.

According to a memo from September, the fee hikes will enable the university to meet their financial aid commitment and stave off layoffs, and are “unavoidable”

Gora also explained that all those who had already applied for financial aid would not have to re-apply, as their packages would be automatically re-evaluated and they would be notified of the Financial Aid Office’s decision by December 12.

The Public Affairs Office, asked about how the funds from the fee increases would be allocated, told The Mass Media that the money would all go to academic programs, and not toward any other on-campus developments.