The state comptroller's office says three colleges aren't being transparent about the millions they collect from students.
TRENTON -- Three New Jersey public colleges have a "heavy reliance" on millions in mandatory students fees but lack transparency about how that money is spent, according to a new state audit.
The review conducted by the state comptroller focuses on Kean University, the College of New Jersey and William Paterson University. Together, the three colleges collected more than $115 million in mandatory fees in 2012-13, the year for which the state conducted the audit.
Only William Paterson was able to provide documentation justifying its fee increase, and none of the colleges disclosed that a portion of their student fees are used to cover payroll expenses, the audit found.
State Comptroller Philip James Degnan called on the colleges to develop written policies for how and when fees should be assessed, although such policies are not required by state law.
"If students are going to be charged thousands of dollars a year on top of their tuition, they deserve to know how their money is going to be spent," Degnan said. "Establishing public guidelines would allow students to determine whether mandatory fee revenue is being used efficiently and for its intended purpose."
Despite the call for transparency, the audit found that colleges' fees were mostly used for their stated purpose, such as student activity, technology or recreation.
In response to the review, William Paterson and the College of New Jersey agreed to develop formal policies and procedures for mandatory fees, according to the audit report.
Kean declined to follow most of the comptroller's recommendations and disagreed with most of the audit's conclusions, according to the report.
In a response attached to the audit report, Kean said it is full compliance with with all accounting and reporting standards relating to how tuition and and mandatory fees are determined and reported.
Here is an overview of what the comptroller's audit found at each college:
William Paterson
In 2012-13, the university charged students $3,599 per semester in tuition and $2,311 per semester in fees. The nine different mandatory fees brought in $41.1 million in revenue.
The college increased only one student fee, its transportation fee, and was able to explain the factors behind the increase.
William Paterson is the only one of the three colleges that maintains a different fund for each of its mandatory fees.
The university spent about 10 percent of the fee revenue it collected on covering its payroll.
The College of New Jersey
In 2012-13, the college charged students $5,051 per semester in tuition and $2,300 per semester in mandatory fees. The seven different fees generated $30.2 million.
The mandatory fees are not assessed on an individual basis and instead were increased at the same percentage as tuition in order to balance the college's budget.
The seven fees were combined into four funds, limiting the transparency of the college's spending, the audit found.
The university spend about 30 percent of its fee revenue on payroll.
Kean University
In 2012-13, the university charged students $3,463 per semester in tuition and $1,838 per semester in mandatory fees. Kean collected a total of $45.2 million through its nine fees.
Five of those nine fees are combined into one fund, making it difficult for students to see how the fees are spent, the audit found. Kean was unable to account for the entire fee expenditures related to its transportation fee, such as fueling costs.
The audit also found that Kean did not maintain documentation supporting photocopier expenditures charged to its mandatory fee funds, despite a state requirement that such records be retained for seven years.
The university spent about 30 percent of its revenue from mandatory fees on payroll.
Kean is audited annually and those audits are public documents, assuring full transparency, university spokeswoman Margaret McCorry said.
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