When college students rally in support of tuition changes, they’re usually looking for lower fees. But a growing number of college students are actually asking to pay more, as long as that extra money goes toward green projects on campus. Green Inc. reports that ‘green fees’ are on the rise, helping colleges and universities achieve sustainability goals like LEED-certified campus buildings and solar panel arrays.
Among the schools currently charging mandatory student fees for the explicit purchase of green projects are Evergreen State College, the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, Northland College and Appalachian State University.
From Green Inc., via The Huffington Post:
Portland State University is currently voting on whether to establish this kind of fee.
In some states like Florida and Texas, students at public universities have been foiled in their efforts to impose green fees. That is because any fee increase must be approved by the state legislature. The back-and-forth process can easily take four years, according to Trevor Lovell of ReEnergize Texas, a youth coalition pushing for measures to address climate change — by which time the student body will have (hopefully) turned over.
A bill backed by ReEnergize Texas is working its way through the Texas state legislature that would allow university students to impose green fees more easily.
With fees as low as $3 per semester, it’s easy to see why students would support the increases. We’re not talking about hundreds of dollars, here. Sure, college students are poor, but skip a few trips to the residence hall vending machine or one Starbucks mocha and you’ve got the cash to contribute. Even one dollar per student, when multiplied by the number of students enrolled, can be a huge boost to important green projects on campus.
Link [Green Inc.] via [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user agfazzone
