Kudos to Casey Selix

[For actually reading the U of M budget
that will no doubt be rubber-stamped
by the Board of Regents (Bore)]

From the Next Degree:

School of Dentistry students will find it’s more expensive to attend dental school in the 2010-11 academic year depending on which classes they take. The University of Minnesota’s budget includes four new fees ranging from $187 to $1,790 for instrument usage and equipment each semester. A number of fees will increase from 7 percent to nearly 8 percent.

These are the types of details [page 58] that I found deep down in the 80-page proposed budget. The Board of Regents meets Tuesday to vote on President Robert Bruininks’ proposed operating budget.

To meet the university’s $152 million "challenge," an interesting description for the budget hole and a reduced state appropriation, the budget recommends increasing tuition 4.4 percent. That will bring in $47.1 million in new revenue. It also suggests $104.9 million in "unit reductions/resource adjustments."

And the budget calls for new fees, including $56 for choir dresses and $100 locker rental for non-music majors [page 57] in the College of Liberal Arts. A new fee in the Academic Health Center also caught my eye: $1,000 for a Reiki Healing field trip [page 46].

I counted 70-something new fees in my electronic search of the budget [pdf].