Vote NO on the
WWU Athletics Fee
Western Washington University wants to add a new $74/quarter fee on top of what students already pay — to cover an athletics budget gap that administrators created.
The Numbers You Need to Know
These figures come directly from official WWU Board of Trustees documents, the AS Senate minutes, and the official 2025 athletics fee referendum packet.
Charged to Bellingham-campus students enrolled in 6+ credits. Fall, winter, and spring quarters only.
$80.36 × 3 quarters. On top of the existing S&A fee of $259.41/quarter you already pay.
Athletics already receives the largest share of student S&A fee allocations — before any new referendum fee.
Based on the official 2025 referendum packet projection. This money would remove athletics from the normal S&A process.
The Board-approved athletics budget projects $5.56M in expenditures against $5.06M in revenue — a gap students are being asked to close.
The 2025 proposal allows the fee to increase automatically by up to 4% per year — with no student vote required for each increase.
Why You Should Vote No
These aren't opinions — they're the factual record from official documents and AS meeting minutes.
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Students already fund athletics. Athletics gets $2.27M from S&A fees annually — already 32% of the entire S&A budget. This referendum asks students to pay even more on top of what they already contribute.
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No S&A fee reduction guaranteed. In 2025, senators directly asked whether S&A fees would decrease if athletics left the process. The answer on the record: no commitment can be made.
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Administration created the deficit — not students. WWU's Board-approved athletics budget shows a ~$500K annual operating shortfall. That's an administrative budgeting failure, not a student responsibility.
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A low-turnout election shouldn't impose fees on everyone. Previous AS elections have drawn only around 500 voters. The AS election code requires a simple majority — a small fraction of students can bind the entire student body to a new annual fee.
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Students are already stretched thin. AS senators explicitly cited the student basic-needs survey during the 2025 debate, noting that many students already struggle with rent, food, and essential expenses.
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The fee can grow without another vote. The 2025 proposal allows the fee to increase up to 4% per year automatically. A $74 fee today can become $90+ within five years — with no student vote required.
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Transparency concerns were still unresolved in 2026. At the February 2026 AS Senate meeting, senators said previous questions still hadn't received solid answers, information had been conflicting, and the process needed to be clearer.
How We Got Here
This isn't the first time athletics has tried to get a dedicated student fee. Here's the timeline.
WWU's Board of Trustees approved an athletics budget showing $5,560,361 in expenditures against $5,060,872 in revenue. A multi-year plan warned cuts could include moving sports to club status without new revenue.
A prior version of the proposal (then at $74/quarter) was presented to AS Senate. Senators raised concerns about affordability, low voter turnout, and lack of transparency. The motion to oppose the referendum passed with 11 ayes, 6 nays, 1 abstain. The 2026 version now seeks $80.36/quarter.
Senators said previous questions still hadn't received solid answers, that information had been conflicting, and that the process needed to be more transparent before moving forward.
Despite the Senate's 2025 rejection and unresolved transparency concerns, the AS Executive Board approved the athletics fee referendum for the Spring 2026 AS General Election ballot.
The Spring 2026 AS General Election is your chance to vote NO. Tell your friends. Bring people to the polls. A small number of voters can decide this for everyone.
What Would This Fee Actually Fund?
Proponents sometimes imply this is about saving a single sport or building a specific facility. The official documents tell a different story.
On the WWU Athletics Fee Referendum.
Tell your friends. Show up.
- WWU Board of Trustees: Intercollegiate Athletics Budget, FY2025–26
- AS Senate Minutes, April 14, 2025 — Vote on athletics referendum motion
- AS Executive Board Draft Minutes, March 5, 2026 — Referendum approval vote (6-0-1)
- AS Senate Meeting Notes, February 4, 2026 — Transparency concerns raised
- Official 2025 Athletics Fee Referendum Packet — $74/quarter proposal, $2.81M projection
- WWU S&A Budget Materials, 2024–25 — Athletics receives 32% of S&A allocations
- WWU S&A Fee Athletics Fee Referendum 2026 — April 1, 2026 official packet
- WWU Multi-Year Athletics Budget Plan — Deficit projections and risk of sport cuts
This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Western Washington University or ASWWU. It is an independent student advocacy resource.