All undergraduates will now pay a $115 mandatory student activity fee towards the undergraduate Student Association each semester, ending the $109 activity fee that was charged for the past seven years.
Results for this year’s referendum — which asks students every two years on whether to keep or end the fee— were released on SA’s Instagram Friday afternoon. This year marks the first time in seven years that SA added another question, asking students for a raise.
The referendum drew around 3,400 voters. The majority — 2,310 — voted to keep the fee mandatory, while 1,098 voted to end it. The gap slightly narrowed in the choice on whether or not to raise the fee, with 2,248 students voting to increase it and 1,160 to keep it at $109.
SA — the undergraduate student government — oversees upwards of 200 student clubs, hosts on-campus events and advocates for the student body. Its budget runs solely on the mandatory student activity fee, which for years, has been around $4.5 million.
Laron Fomby, SA’s 2026-27 treasurer, told The Spectrum late August the $4.5 million budget cannot work long-term, citing increasing event expenses and the amount of clubs that need funding.
With an estimate of approximately 20,870 undergraduate students — which SA 2026-27 Elections and Credentials Chair Tala Al-Khaouli told presidential and Senate candidates Friday afternoon — the new fee may boost SA's budget to around $4.6 million.
Aiden Dickerson is the senior news editor and can be reached at aiden.dickerson@ubspectrum.com.
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com.
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
