San Francisco State University increased its in-person New Student Orientation fee to $105 this summer. This marks the second hike since 2020, when it went from $35 to $70, according to Evan Jaynes, the director of student activities. 

“The fee increased due to financial necessity,” Jaynes said. “As a completely fee-funded program, no university general funds are dedicated towards the program. Accordingly, continued declines in enrollment and continued increases in costs may necessitate future proposals to increase the orientation fee in order to maintain the standard of quality and support for new students in transition to SF State.”

Prior to the 2025 increase, SFSU offered the second-lowest orientation fee in the California State University system. Before the 2020 increase, SFSU offered the lowest fee. Now, SFSU is closer to the CSU system’s average fee, with the cheapest in-person orientation fee at $50 at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, and the most expensive at $385 at California State University, Maritime.

The fee covers orientation program materials, on-campus services, software, student financial support and staff wages. It also covers wages of the 20-30 student staff members employed annually, according to the New Student Orientation website. 

During the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in-person orientation, the incoming student has access to student services, including financial aid and admissions, and can learn about the university and its campus, as well as receive assistance with course registration. For a remote orientation session, the fee is $50. Students who choose the remote option experience a replicated version of the in-person schedule, excluding the campus tour and lunch.

The Orientation Refund Policy states that the fee is nonrefundable, but New Student Programs will consider refund requests.

Krittayot Sanoklang, an incoming student who attended the transfer student orientation on Tuesday, left three hours early and said it should cost less for what was offered.

“I think we should have gotten a little bit more food and maybe not a tour because it was actually the third time I’ve been on the tour since the process of applying,” Sanoklang said. “I wish it cost a little less.”

Jaynes said there are ongoing program improvements prompted by the fee increase proposal to the Student Fee Advisory Committee. The 2019 proposal works to move the program from a part-day event to a full-day event with more activities other than course registration.

“An anticipated fee increase every four to five years best responds to enrollment decline and programmatic needs, and adequately supports student leaders, payroll and related costs,” Jaynes said.

Yet, Jaynes said there are no future proposals to increase the fee at the time of publication.