Currently, some colleges charge a programming fee to cover the extra costs associated with a major.

Under the proposed structure, students would not be lumped into part-time or full-time fee categories, but would pay fractions of that fee depending on the credit hours they take.

The proposed change would simplify the tuition and fee system and make it more fair for students, said Dave Byelich, director of the Office of Planning and Budgets.

The potential restructuring is part of a wider approach to “accelerate time to degree” and “maintain economic opportunity to obtain degrees,” Byelich said.

For instance, a student taking eight credits in a college that charges a fee would not pay the same fee amount as a student taking 12 credits in that same college. In essence, the change would scale the rate based on the number of credit hours a student takes.

“What we are trying to deal with is talking about a possible alternative tuition structure,” Byelich said. “We hope to work on an alternative structure in a manner that is fair and equitable to all students.”

He said the structure is still in a planning phase and the university is considering which would be the best way to streamline tuition and fees.

Mechanical engineering junior Jocelyn Modelski said the new structure would have little effect on students with already massive student loan debt.

“In a $20,000 loan, a couple hundred is nothing really,” she said.

MSU Students United Andrew Gibson said the whole practice of charging students different tuition based on their major is unfair, explaining that restructuring of the fees won’t change that.

“It seems that with tuition dollars we are paying lump sums of money and have no control over where the tuition dollars are being spent,” Gibson said. “Students should be treated equally as far as tuition.”

The possible change would also have an affect on graduate students who are working toward degrees in colleges that charge extra fees.

Stefan Fletcher, president of the Council of Graduate Students, said the council is currently scrutinizing the impacts of the change and is raising questions for the administration to consider.

“Discussions are in a preliminary stage,” Fletcher said. “What we will do over the next month or so is take a look at questions asked at the meetings and provide (administration) with our perspective and what questions we have.”