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December 19, 2008, 03:09 PM ET
New Phone Fee Could Cost Colleges $450-Million
The extensive web of telephone services om most campuses could soon cost the average college or university an extra $100,000 per year—and cost higher education in general hundreds of millions—because of a proposed change to a federally-regulated service fee.
On Dec. 11 the American Council on Education sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission protesting a change in something called the “universal service fund.” The fund, run by the FCC, is used to subsidize service in rural and low-income areas, providing customers affordable rates.
The change, proposed by telecoms AT&T and Verizon, would charge institutions 85 cents per assigned telephone number, according to an earlier letter drafted by the council. Previously, colleges were charged fees using a formula based on their revenues. The Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education has estimated that, with the new fee-per-phone number plan, higher education’s contribution to the fund would jump from $60-million each year to approximately $450-million. The average college or university would pay about $100,000 annually.
Ada Meloy, general counsel for the American Council on Education, said the increased charges would be especially difficult for colleges and universities to handle in the face of budget cuts brought on by tough economic conditions.
“There are certainly colleges that are severely taxed financially, and to impose such a large increase in their expense for this service could put someone over the edge,” Ms. Meloy said in an interview with The Chronicle. Most colleges would probably have the means to pay for the increase, she said, “but it might mean that money has to be taken from other purposes that are really more beneficial to the institutions and their students.
In response to these concerns, AT&T has suggested that the FCC set up a program that would allow colleges that qualify for exemption to receive reimbursement later on. The council, however, has said this approach would create an administrative burden. It has requested the FCC delay making any changes until they can be further reviewed. —Caitlin Moran
Categories: Leadership
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