University officials say a policy change caused an overestimation of nearly 10 percent of the budget of mandatory fees paid by students. The discrepancy is causing budget conflicts for campus organizations, including the Government of the Student Body, which is now short $175,000 for the current academic year.

The cause of the overestimation was the oversight of a policy change originally drafted to benefit part-time students, said Stephanie Fox, associate controller of the Controller’s Department.

The student activity and service fee switched from a flat fee to a tiered fee based on the number of credits for which a student is enrolled, she said.

The Iowa Board of Regents passed the fee change after the projection for enrollment had already been estimated, said Warren Madden, vice president for Business and Finance.

In the past, students paid a flat rate each semester. With the new policy, students who are enrolled for three or fewer credits pay one-third of the fees; those enrolled for up to six credits pay two-thirds and students with nine or more credits pay the entire rate, he said.

Other Iowa universities such as the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa already have similar tiered fee structures in place, Madden said.

GSB, the Graduate Student Senate and CyRide receive a portion of students’ mandatory fees.

The portion of the student activity fee total is based on the number of prospective students for the upcoming year. GSB takes these estimates and plans a budget for allocations given to student clubs and organizations, said David Boike, GSB finance director.

As a result of the budget discrepancy, GSB is $175,000 over budget for this academic year. The finance committee is working on fixing the budget for this year and the upcoming year, he said.

GSB has two options to solve the budget conflict.

Currently there is $90,000 in a Student Activity Fee Reserve Account, which is only to be used for an unpredictable 1 percent drop in enrollment. The money in the account can be used, and the remaining deficit can come from the Special Projects account, Boike said.

The Student Activity Fee Reserve Account must be refunded at the end of the year.

“[GSB would be] stealing from next year to pay for this year,” Boike said.

The second, and more preferable, option is to use the Student Activity Fee Reserve Account across two to three years, he said.

GSB will be “cutting corners,” but no group will receive zero funding because of the conflict, Boike said.

Bob Bourne, CyRide director of transportation, said there will have to be some changes in CyRide’s budget; whether it be spending less or charging more. He said he doesn’t believe the discrepancy will affect the amount of service provided.

The GSS will also be suffering from a $16,000 difference between the projected and actual budget, said Dee Egdorf, GSS president.

GSS will most likely reduce their allocations, the amount of travel funds available and the amount of research grants given to graduate students, she said.