The Enrollment Confirmation Deposit is a mandatory, one-time fee that all entering undergraduate students at the Tacoma campus of the University of Washington pay when they confirm their enrollment. The deposit is applied to the student's tuition account.  

The New Student Enrollment and Orientation Fee (NSEOF) is a mandatory, one-time fee that all entering undergraduate students at the Tacoma campus of the University of Washington pay to support student success. The NSEOF is neither refundable nor transferable to another quarter or another student.  

The NSEOF supports orientation and transition programs designed specifically to set students up for success. These programs include New Student Advising & Registration (NSAR), Orientation Programs, and the Pack Advisor Pack Chats. 

The History of the NSEOF

Since its founding, the University of Washington Tacoma has offered orientation for new students. In 2005, when the campus was getting ready to welcome its first Freshman class, a drastic change to the way new students were welcomed to campus was proposed. Staff recognized that all students needed an opportunity to get acclimated, be introduced to resources available and learn how to be successful at the UW.

A proposal to implement an enrollment fee for all new students, both freshman and transfer, was created to fund this new initiative. It came from the idea that orientation should emphasize academic values, stress the importance of intellectual discovery, value diverse learning opportunities and actively pursue academic excellence.

With the implementation of the NSEOF, the office of New Student and Family Programs was created, with the purpose of implementing and facilitating programs and services for new students. Campus partnerships were utilized and strengthened to ensure students would have the opportunity to meet their fellow new Huskies, discover the resources campus has to offer and register for classes for the upcoming quarter.

Today, the NSEOF funds the office of New Student & Family Programs (NSFP), which is responsible for coordinating New Student Advising & Registration days, Orientation Programs, Online Orientation and the Pack Advisors. Through the Pack Advisors, NSEOF funds the wages of student employees who work as orientation leaders and advisors for First year & Transfer students through their first year. A portion of the NSEOF also funds programs and services that support the persistence of new undergraduates, including orientation and persistence programming for International Students, participants in the Childcare Assistance Program, Convocation and students with minoritized identities through the Center for Equity & Inclusion Affinity Welcomes.  

The NSEOF can only be increased through approval by the UW Board of Regents. New Student and Family Programs does not receive state funding from the University, but does operate other programs and services for students and families, including a Family Orientation program.

Because the NSEOF is required for all students, financial aid for this fee is built into a student’s aid package for their first year. This also means that the fee is not able to be waived.

NSEOF Allocation

The NSEOF is currently $300, and all incoming matriculated undergraduate students are charged. Allocations are split up in the following ways:

Orientation Programs (79%)

Programming and staffing (93%) 
Student wages (7%)

Pack Advisors (15%)

Programming (4%) 
Student wages (96%)

Partnerships (6%)

Programs Funded by the NSEOF

Orientation Programs

  • New Student Advising & Registration Days
  • Autumn, Winter, and Spring On-Campus Orientations
  • Online Orientation Modules
  • Childcare Assistance Program Orientation
  • International Student Orientations and Support via the Global Affairs Fellows

First-Year Success Programs

  • First Year Success Programs
  • Pack Advisors
  • Convocation
  • Affinity Welcomes 

NSEOF Advisory Councils

NSEOF recommendations and activities are reviewed by the NSEOF Student Advisory Council. The council provides recommendations to Student Affairs for final approval.

This committee will help generate ideas on campus wide and departmental collaborations and will assist in advising NSFP staff, from a student perspective, on what the needs of students are as they experience transition to college.  

The council will meet monthly (1.5 hours) and have Student Co-Chairs that will help set agendas with the Associate Director of New Student & Family Programs and represent the committee at ASUWT and Board of Regents Meetings. Council members are volunteer and unpaid while doing council work.