University of Illinois Course Fee Guidelines

Tuition is approved by the Board of Trustees and complies in all material respects with applicable laws, University of Illinois Statutes, The General Rules Concerning University Organization and Procedure, and Board of Trustees policies and directives. The Vice President for Academic Affairs, in conjunction with the three campus provosts oversees course fee guidelines, their review and compliance.

Course fees, when approved, must be separate, unique and used solely for support of the courses involved. Course fees can be assessed for special, unique costs required for materials or other tangible products or services such as those that are retained by the student in a credit course, cost of plane rentals for aviation instruction, transportation and admission costs incurred on field trips required in course instruction, the development of online courses, etc. In such cases, the charge cannot exceed the cost of providing the product or service available to the student. Difficulty in securing adequate regular budget support shall not be the determining factor in the decision to charge selected students a course fee. All units must strive to administer the course fee funds in ways that provide students paying those fees a reasonable opportunity to benefit equitably from the expenditure of the course fee.

All course fees and changes to established course fees must be approved in writing by the Provost or designee(s). Insuring that these policies are observed is a shared responsibility between the department, college, and Provost or designee(s). Information about individual course fees must be clearly advertised prior to registration for the semester in which the course fee is assessed.

Collection of course fees in the classroom is not allowed. Students will be made aware of course fees prior to registration through the Schedule of classes. Billing and payment of course fees is through the standard University business practices.

These general guidelines are approved by the VPAA and the provosts. Each campus has established campus specific guidelines that build upon these University of Illinois Course Fee Guidelines. They are available at the links below:

Urbana Course Fee Information

Chicago Course Fee Information

Springfield Course Fee Information