As the state reduced the share of funding taxpayers provided for higher education, students stepped up to fund many of those amenities through mandatory fees, and they are still being charged for them, even as they are barred from using them during the pandemic. The pool is part of a $63.5 million Rec Center renovation project funded by a student fee approved in 2011. When Regents convened to approve the student government’s plan, some expressed concerns about how it would hike up student fees by hundreds of dollars per semester.
