The Times Dispatch has another article about rising VCU student fees.

Some excerpts:

The board of visitors on Friday approved a $50 increase in the university fee, bringing the charge to $1,637 for full-time students.
….
The university fee, which is assessed on all students but is prorated for those attending part time, supports intercollegiate athletics, recreational sports, the Student Commons and other programs.

The fee will bring VCU $41.5 million in total revenue for the 2011-12 academic year. Nearly $11 million will go to athletics.

…
It also will cover the $10,000 needed for increased fees for game officials, $100,000 for athletic facility maintenance, and $50,000 for the higher cost of inflation and deflation of VCU’s new tennis bubble.

Also covered by the fee increase is $45,000 in higher costs for the GRTC pass program that allows full-time students to ride city buses at no charge. About $158,000 will be used for Cary Street Recreation Center operations, and $80,000 will go to student disability programs.
…
The board of visitors adopted the increase in setting tuition and mandatory fee rates that will cost in-state students 7.9 percent, or $700, more. The university fee was not increased when tuition charges jumped 24 percent for the current year.

Adele McClure, this year’s student government president, said she did not hear from students who were upset by either the tuition or university fee increase. Nor did she hear complaints after Smart’s $1.2 million contract was announced.