Major and Course Fee

Keeping pace with change is critical for success in the 21st century. Business graduates must be prepared with more than just access to the latest technology and course content. They need courses that fully develop their leadership, decision-making and critical-thinking skills. They also need an academic foundation to make effective and ethical decisions in their chosen profession.

We want our students to have an unforgettable college experience and graduate to pursue outstanding careers. To accomplish this, we have designed the entire Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business experience to increase our students' success in highly competitive job markets. This goal is partially supported by a major and course fee that funds infrastructure and program enhancements that benefit all business majors and non-majors in upper-level business courses. Clemson is not unique in charging these fees, but we want to be transparent about them.

Enhancements include additional top-tier faculty to ensure more sections of upper-level business courses and smaller average class sizes. The ability to offer more sections allows us to guarantee that our majors get all the required courses they need for timely graduation while maintaining the high quality of these courses. Benefit programs offered through our Office of Career and Global Engagement provide leadership and professional development opportunities to give our students a competitive edge.

Student Responsibility

The Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business is dedicated to seating all juniors and seniors in the classes they need in the proper sequence to maintain an orderly transition to graduation. With this comes a student's responsibility to engage our advising and enrollment system in a timely and effective manner. Students must see their academic advisor(s) each semester before starting registration for the following semester, adhere to the major course map, and register during their assigned registration window. Students must inform their advisor within one week of the close of the semester of any course required for graduation (or a prerequisite to such a course) in which the student earned a grade lower than the required grade (C, D or F, depending on the course). Our system requires shared responsibilities with our students. Failure to follow these requirements may jeopardize the course access guarantee.

Students Changing to a Business Major

If a student changes to a business major on or before the "Last day to register or add a class or declare audit" in any semester, they will receive a bill for the business major fee for that semester. Please see the University Academic Calendar for the specific date each semester.

All benefit funding from the major and course fees is utilized within the same academic year; in other words, students benefit directly from the fees they pay.

Fee Assessment*

• Business Junior/Senior Major Fee: $1,059 per semester for in-state juniors and seniors and $1,087 per semester for out-of-state juniors and seniors. This applies to full-time business majors who are considered junior or senior in terms of credit hours.
• Business Non-Major Course Fee: $106 per credit hour for in-state students and $108 per credit hour for out-of-state students. Applies to majors who are first-year students or sophomores and part-time majors who are taking 3000- and 4000-level business courses (ACCT, AS, BUS, ECON, ELE, FIN, GC, LAW, MGT, MKT, and ML).

*Fee amount is subject to change at the discretion of the Board of Trustees.

Fee Benefits

• Corporate recruiters are brought to campus to interact with students.
• Professional development events and activities afford students a competitive edge upon graduation.
• Students can travel to present their research at national conferences.
• Students can apply for financial aid to make their study abroad trips possible.
• More sections of business 3000- and 4000-level classes are available.
• Average college class sizes across the college are smaller, especially in upper-level business courses.
• Dedicated advisors guide the progress of juniors and seniors and ensure students stay on track to graduate on time.
• Students can participate in college and department-level national and international competitions, trade conferences, educational trips, research presentations and classes, including the Business Management Strategy Challenge and Gateways to World Markets class (trip to NYC), to name a couple.

Fee-Funded Programs

• Career and Global Engagement - offers mentorship, leadership, internship, study abroad and professional development opportunities for students.
• Student initiatives within academic departments - from sending students to national conferences to bringing corporate recruiters to campus.
• Instructional support - increase the number of top-tier faculty and decrease average class size across the college.

Fee Funding Process

Each department fills out a funds proposal form at the beginning of the Fall semester . The Fee Committee, composed of faculty and students, determines how funds will be distributed based on the proposals submitted by the departments. Committee members must agree unanimously with the project's purpose, the student's benefit from the project and the associated project cost. Once determined, the Fee Committee notifies the departments and provides the funding for the approved projects.

Contact Us

If you have additional questions about the programs and opportunities provided by the fee, please contact:

Carl Hollingsworth, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
864-656-3177