Professional Fees

The COBE professional fee enhances the student experience and ensures an excellent return on investment. It is also used to attract and retain qualified faculty, bridge salary gaps, and support professional development.

What are COBE Professional Fees?

The fee is $40 per credit hour for business students taking upper-division undergraduate coursework (300-499 level classes), and $50 per credit hour for those taking graduate-level coursework (500-699 level classes).

What Courses Have the COBE Professional Fee?

COBE courses at the upper-division 300- and 400-level, excluding BUSMGT, BUSBTC, RHM, ENTBUS, will have the $40 per credit professional fee.

COBE graduate 500- and 600-level, excluding BUSMBA, Online MSA, Online MSA-Tax, Online MSA-Foundations, and Executive MBA, will have the $50 per credit professional fee.

How will the money be spent?

The fees will be directly invested in the College of Business and Economics and its departments and programs. Below are the key areas where the professional fees will be allocated:

Professional Student Success Personnel Salaries

COBE is increasing investments in student success and career development, aligning with the university’s focus on enrollment and retention. COBE Career Services, available to all students taking business classes, has witnessed a consistent 11% annual increase in student traffic since the COVID-19 year. Unique in Idaho, COBE’s array of student services offers a comprehensive range of academic and professional services, including business-oriented academic advising, tutoring, program operations, and career mentoring. With AACSB accreditation standards emphasizing discipline-specific career support, COBE ensures high-quality advising, preparation, and placement services. Requiring academic advising before enrollment has boosted the number of students that graduate in less than five years to nearly 90% of bachelor’s degree graduates, resulting in faster and more cost-effective education experiences.

Attract and Retain High-Quality Faculty

A portion of the professional fee will be dedicated to securing and retaining top-tier faculty, thereby enriching the student experience. This involves hiring additional faculty to expand teaching capacity, addressing salary gaps to stay competitive, and sustaining the necessary research resources. Despite COBE’s continuous growth, expanding enrollments have not fully covered the associated cost increases. Current salary levels lag behind those of comparable business schools, resulting in faculty attrition to other institutions.

Investment in Research Support for Faculty and Students

Investing in faculty professional development and research support is crucial for high-quality faculty, enhancing both their expertise and research contributions to the classroom. These funds also play a vital role in supporting student research, in both cases covering expenses like data acquisition, human subjects, and conference travel.