ASUO has controlled the incidental fee â a sum students pay when they enroll in courses that ASUO then allocates to a number of programs, primarily through its major finance committees â since 1970. Currently, the sum of this fee stands at roughly $17 million, with students paying $271.75 for each academic term of the 2020-21 school year. This year, ASUOâs surplus is abnormally high; even after paying off its deficit, it has $917,542 available for allocation as of the most recent senate meeting on Nov. 18.
Under the ASUO constitution, the senate has the power to ask University of Oregon students for a slightly larger per term I-fee than its program benchmarks require, provided that the I-fee does not increase by more than 5%. This extra money goes into the senateâs surplus, which ASUO can use to solve their deficit as well as provide student organizations with additional funding that was not allocated to them in the previous year.