Administrative Services Assessment (ASA) Fee
What is the ASA fee?
The administrative service assessment (ASA) fee recovers costs from self-supporting and auxiliary departments for the services provided by state-funded departments, such as Human Resources and IT. This is because the state appropriates funding for specific purposes, which does not include self-sustaining and auxiliary services.
How it works:
- Service centers are departments that provide essential support to the whole university and their core operations are funded by state operating funds.
- When auxiliary or self-supporting department use these state-funded services, it contributes to the cost of operations. The ASA fee partially recovers these costs based on metrics that reflect service use.
- The ASA fee ensures that state appropriations are used in alignment with the intended purpose, while self-supporting units pay in part for the services they receive.
Learn More
Learn how the current ASA model and framework were developed by the ASA Review Project team and steering committee, led by SMB from 2022-2025.
Additional technical information is available on the ASA Framework page to promote transparency, add clarity, and for those just looking to dig in deeper.
The ASA Service Departments page lists what state-funded services are covered by the ASA fee and the metrics by which those fees are calculated.
Who pays the fee?
The fee is charged to auxiliary and self-supporting areas that operate without state funding and use fee revenue as the primary revenue source.
For a list of activities exempt from paying the ASA fee, see the Exemptions list.
Why is it needed?
Self-supporting departments rely on the same central services as state-funded departments. The ASA fee helps distribute those costs evenly, so state funds don’t subsidize self-supporting operations.
How is the fee calculated?
A metric, known as a cost driver, has been selected for each service department and is applied consistently across all service users to allocate the costs . The ASA fee for a department is the sum of those costs across all service areas. Please see the ASA Service Departments page for more info.
Where does the money go?
The fee is collected by the university and is included with tuition and state appropriations to make up the university’s state operating revenues (see FY2025-26 WWU Operating Budget). With the new assessment framework, the amount received by the institution will be reduced and this has been factored into long-term budget planning.
When will areas know their fee?
The new ASA framework fees will be phased-in over three years begining in fiscal year 2026-2027 to mitigate financial impacts. Estimates for FY27 fees will be distributed in January 2026 for budget planning, and the actual ASA fee for FY27 will be confirmed in July based on service costs.
For more information about the fee calculations and other details, visit ASA Cost Allocation Framework.
When will the fee be collected?
The fee amount will be calculated for the fiscal year, but collected quarterly during the fiscal year. SMB will work with each to identify which fund(s) are used for payment.