Administrators may raise summer session fees to help cover the soaring prices of fuel and utilities because the state does not fund the university to operate during summer months.

Winter term fees should remain the same despite the rising costs of natural gas to heat the buildings. The rising prices, which nearly doubled since the damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast, left the university with an additional $11 million bill this year.

“It won’t impact winter as much because it’s a three-week period,” said Chuck Wilson, the director of the summer and winter terms. “That’s not to say we won’t see some kind of impact down the road … When you consider air conditioning in the summer, those expenses are just as significant [as in the winter.]”

Wilson couldn’t say if prices will definitely increase or by how “The students will know well in advance of any possible increases in mandatory fees,” Wilson said.

The current price for mandatory winter fees is $65 per student versus $190 in the summer. The winter term runs for three weeks, while the two summer sessions last five weeks each. Administrators set student tuition during the winter and summer terms based on the costs during the fall and spring semesters.

However, unlike the fall and spring semesters, state money doesn’t fund the university for winter and summer to pay for instruction, including faculty pay and operating costs that total about $3 million, Wilson said. Revenue from students takes up all of the burden, where a bulk of the tuition pays for faculty’s pay and the mandatory fees pay for operating costs, including air conditioning the buildings, running Shuttle-UM and funding University Police.

To help minimize increases, Wilson said it could mean cutting some student services, such as decreasing the number of Shuttle-UM routes. Also, the registrar’s office tries to schedule classes so most of them would be at the same time or in certain buildings, said Registrar David Robb.

Departments and offices across the university are struggling with energy bills. The Department of Resident Life and Dining Services may decrease heating in buildings, tap into university reserves, cut residential services or raise student fees, officials said last week.

The possible increase in summer tuition comes at a time when summer enrollment has remained flat for the last few years, Wilson said. Universities across the nation are concerned that summer enrollment will start to decrease as summer courses compete with students opting to participate in internships, full-time jobs or study abroad.

The university admits about 1,200 students each summer, and Wilson expects enrollment to stay the same despite any changes. But he admits other opportunities keep summer enrollment low.

“More students have the desire and means to study abroad and get summer jobs,” Wilson said. “The university is losing the opportunity to have more students enroll in the summer program … I really don’t want to increase this burden on students.”

Contact reporter Laurie Au at lauriedbk@gmail.com.