Frequently Asked Questions

The Student Health Fee is a mandatory campus-based fee that supports health and wellness services available to enrolled students.

The fee supports a range of health services that are required under CSU policy, including medical and mental health care, clinical operations, preventive care, health education and promotion, diagnostic services, care coordination, and other student health services.

The current Student Health Fee is $190 per semester. If approved, the fee would increase in two phases: by $30 per semester in Fall 2027 to $220 per semester, and by an additional $30 per semester in Fall 2028 to $250 per semester.

The Student Health Fee has not increased since 2019. Since that time:

• Costs associated with healthcare personnel, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, technology, compliance, and other operating expenses have increased.
• Healthcare costs have increased by approximately 33%, including 7.9% from 2025 to 2026 alone.
• SJSU enrollment has grown by approximately 24%.
• The medical and mental health needs of students have become increasingly complex.

As these costs have increased, available funding through the Student Health Fee has not kept pace with the cost of providing services. The Student Wellness Center has used accumulated reserves to close a structural budget gap.

If revenues and expenditures continue on their current trajectory, current financial projections indicate that those reserves would be exhausted during the academic year 2028-29.

The Student Wellness Center provides health education, prevention resources, public health response, and programs designed to help students address health concerns that can affect their well-being and academic success.

The Student Wellness Center provides enrolled students with access to a broad range of medical, mental health, preventive health and wellness services.
These include:

• Primary medical care
• Mental health counseling
• Preventive care
• Diagnosis and treatment of acute conditions
• Chronic disease management within provider scope
• Laboratory testing and imaging services
• Care coordination
• Patient education and health education
• Wellness promotion and health outreach
• Pharmacy services

Students from across the SJSU community use the Student Wellness Center. Utilization data from the past three years shows that students who access Student Wellness Center services come from a broad range of academic colleges, racial and ethnic backgrounds, class levels, ages, and student populations. The data demonstrates that the center serves a diverse cross-section of the student community, with utilization extending across undergraduate and graduate students and students with a variety of backgrounds and experiences.

*approximate

Students use the Student Wellness Center in many different ways, including medical and counseling appointments, pharmacy services, health education programs, prevention resources, and other forms of holistic support.

During 2025/26, the Student Wellness Center:

• Provided 18,545 medical and counseling appointments.
  • 10,115 medical appointments
  • 8,429 counseling appointments
• Served 5,063 individual students through appointments.
• Engaged 17,739 students through peer-led health education activities.
• Distributed 34,895 harm-reduction and prevention supplies.
• Answered 10,993 phone calls to connect students to care.
• Recorded 4,510 pharmacy purchases.

The Student Wellness Center continually reviews student demand, wait times, staffing levels, and its service model to support timely access to care. The SWC offers same-day services as well as after-hours support so that students with immediate needs can access assistance without waiting for a regularly scheduled appointment. Wait times for ongoing therapy appointments can increase during periods of particularly high demand, such as the weeks leading up to exams.

Increasing the Student Wellness Center’s capacity to meet student demand is an important consideration in how resources are allocated. Over the past five years, the SWC has added therapists, physicians, clinical case managers, and other staff to expand its capacity to serve students. Additional resources would provide greater ability to maintain appropriate staffing levels, respond to changes in student demand, and support timely access to medical and mental health services.

The SWC will continue to monitor student utilization, appointment availability, and wait times to help determine where resources are most needed and how they can most effectively improve access to care.

The Student Wellness Center has made a number of changes intended to improve access, convenience, prevention, and the student care experience.

Recent measures include:

• Same-day counseling access increased 134%, from 265 students in AY 2023/24 to 619 students in AY 2024/25.
• Online appointment bookings increased 52.8%.
• 78% of participants in peer health educator workshops reported being better informed.
• The Student Wellness Center reported a Net Promoter Score of 76.8, with scores above 70 considered excellent.
• The Student Wellness Center provided 496 free influenza vaccinations.

The Center has also introduced or expanded resources such as the Mindful Steps mental health prevention model, the Well-being @ SJSU holistic support services campaign and accompanying website, multidisciplinary provider teams and an upgraded patient portal.

Student health and wellness services provide students with convenient access to medical care, mental health support, health education, prevention programs, and public health resources that can help address health-related barriers to learning. These services also support the broader campus community through health education, disease prevention, harm-reduction resources, and coordinated responses to public health concerns. Health concerns can affect students’ ability to attend class, complete coursework, participate in campus life, and make progress toward graduation. Recent data from a survey of SJSU students demonstrates this connection.

*Reported a diagnosis within the previous 12 months

Source: Spring 2026 National College Health Assessment, SJSU student respondents

For several years, SJSU relied on accumulated Student Health Fee reserves to absorb increases in healthcare and operating costs rather than increasing the fee. This approach allowed the university to delay additional direct costs to students while continuing to provide more services. As healthcare costs continued to increase faster than available funding, however, reserve funds were increasingly needed to support ongoing operations.

The proposed adjustment is intended to reduce reliance on reserves and provide a more sustainable source of funding for Student Wellness Center services so SJSU can continue to expand its community and culture of care.

The Student Health Fee Fund has experienced operating deficits in recent years because the cost of providing healthcare services has increased faster than available funding.

The operating deficit was approximately $2 million in 2025/26 and is projected to grow to approximately $4 million in 2026/27 without additional revenue.

Reserve funds have been used to help cover the gap between revenue and expenses. Current projections indicate that the available reserves would be exhausted during academic year 2028/29 if the current financial trajectory continues.

If the proposed adjustment is not approved, current financial projections indicate that the Student Health Fee fund would exhaust its reserves and begin experiencing negative cash flow during the academic year 2028/29.

If additional funding is not available, the university would need to evaluate the scope and level of Student Wellness Center services that can be supported with available resources.

Potential effects could include fewer available appointments, longer wait times, reduced access to medical or mental health services, or reductions in prevention and health promotion programs.

Reducing services is one way expenditures could be brought into alignment with available revenue. However, reductions would affect the availability of medical and mental health appointments, wait times, prevention and health promotion programs and other holistic support services currently available to students.

The proposed fee adjustment is intended to support the continued delivery of Student Wellness Center services while addressing increasing healthcare and operating costs.

Like other mandatory campus-based fees, the Student Health Fee supports services and resources that are available to all enrolled students.

Students have access to medical and counseling services when they need them. Students also benefit from the broader range of Student Wellness Center services including health education, prevention resources, pharmacy services, public health programs, crisis response, and other campuswide services.

No. The proposed fee adjustment is intended to support the ongoing cost of providing Student Wellness Center programs and services, including healthcare personnel, clinical operations, mental health services, health promotion and prevention programs, supplies, technology, and other healthcare-related operating costs.

A number of factors have contributed to higher Student Wellness Center operating costs, including:

• General inflation in healthcare delivery
• Compensation costs for healthcare professionals
• Increased pharmaceutical and medical supply costs
• Increasingly complex medical and mental health needs
• Enrollment growth
• Greater demand for coordinated care
• Technology and service costs
• Compliance and regulatory requirements

The Milliman Medical Index, a nationally recognized measure of changes in healthcare costs, indicates that healthcare costs have increased approximately 33% since 2019, including 7.9% from 2025 to 2026.

The Milliman Medical Index (MMI) is a nationally recognized measure of annual changes in healthcare costs.

CSU policy allows the MMI to be used as a methodology when considering adjustments to student health fees so that fee revenue can more closely reflect changes in healthcare costs over time.

Student health fees vary across the CSU because campuses differ in the services supported by the fee, local operating costs, state funding, facility costs, and whether other services such as counseling are supported through the health fee.

SJSU’s current Student Health Fee is $190 per semester. The proposed fee would increase to $220 per semester beginning in Fall 2027 and $250 per semester beginning Fall 2028. Several CSU campuses currently have annual student health fees above $250, while others have lower fees. Because campus funding models differ, fee amounts are not directly comparable without considering the services and costs supported at each campus.

The current referendum voting timeline includes:

• Notice and Information Period: October 1 - 30
• Referendum Voting Period: November 2 at 8:00 a.m. through November 6 at 11:59 p.m.

Students may ask questions or learn more about the Student Health Fee proposal through:

• Email: cfac@sjsu.edu
• Open Forum: in-person in the Student Union Theater and on Zoom for remote attendees
• Tabling Event: October 21, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. | Tower Lawn
• Social Media and Email messages from CFAC