"Is It Reasonable to Exclude 4th Graders but Still Require Student Council Fees from Everyone?"

Conflict Over Student Council Fees at Metropolitan Universities Revealed
"They say we must pay unconditionally... I want to transfer schools"

This year, conflicts over university student council fees have arisen again. Recently, a student council at a university in the Seoul metropolitan area reportedly published and then deleted a list of enrolled students who had not paid the student council fees, sparking controversy. A student identified as A, who is a member of the Department of Visual Design, posted on the anonymous university community 'Everytime' on the 13th, stating, "I didn't attend the MT or the opening party, but I was told to pay the mandatory student council fee of 80,000 won."

A said, "They say seniors in their fourth year don't have to pay, but it’s subtly frustrating. Are we supposed to be the 'fee shuttle' for the seniors? I don’t plan to participate in the events, so I don’t understand why I have to pay," adding, "The student council insists that everyone must pay. They separately compiled a list of students who hadn’t paid and posted it in the announcement room, then deleted it after the controversy arose," expressing dissatisfaction by saying, "I seriously want to transfer schools."

The student council notice disclosed by A stated, "We collect video fees for department events for one semester. This semester, the number of enrolled students is lower than last year, and since we are going on an MT, we decided to collect 80,000 won each." The student council also announced, "Currently, very few students have paid the video fee," and "All students except seniors must pay the fee, and if we cannot collect it properly, it will be impossible to operate semester events. Even if you do not plan to participate in the events, payment is mandatory, so please make the deposit."

[Image source=Everytime capture]

Netizens who read the story mostly responded critically, saying things like, "You can just ignore it and not pay," "If the number of freshmen decreased, reduce the fee too," "I didn’t pay either, and they contacted me asking why," and "Make the usage details transparent." However, a netizen who claimed to be a student at the university explained, "Seniors don’t pay the student council fee because, due to the nature of the art department, they rarely participate in events as they prepare for their graduation exhibition," adding, "If they do participate in events, they are informed of the costs they must pay individually after the final settlement and pay extra accordingly."

Unlike tuition fees used for school operations, student council fees are used for events and festivals hosted by the general student council or department student councils. However, since these fees are not mandatory, debates over student council fee payments occur every year. In April last year, controversy arose when a nursing department at a vocational college in Chungnam forcibly collected student council fees amounting to 400,000 won from freshmen and refused refund requests. Also, in February last year, the general student council of a private university in Gwangju caused public outrage by falsely informing students that "if you do not pay the student council fee, you cannot receive scholarships supported by the school."

Resistance to paying student council fees also stems from distrust due to the possibility of embezzlement or misuse. In 2021, the president of the Seoul City University general student council was summarily indicted on charges of embezzling about 6.5 million won of student council fees under the pretext of paying an event company. Additionally, in 2019, executives of the general student councils at Konkuk University and Hanyang University, who were accused of embezzling student council fees, reportedly received fines afterward.