Student upset over administrative fees

I want to express my concern over Emporia State’s new tuition payment policy. As a graduate student working a full time job I have worked hard each semester to pay rising tuition costs without the assistance of financial aid. Each semester I dutifully pay my tuition in installments, paying a $25.00 fee that allows me to extend my payments into three separate installments. This process has worked well for me. I have been able to balance my tuition fees and my other expenses without having to apply for federal financial aid. However, I am afraid that your new policy that charges a $50.00 administrative fee at two separate cut off dates, will make it difficult for students like me to pay for tuition and university fees.

Since I started my graduate coursework at Emporia I have experienced rising tuition costs each year. I know this is a national trend, and Emporia State, like all universities, is faced with the challenge of providing exceptional education while balancing budgets with state funding continually on the decline. Increased tuition is a fact of life for students today. When I started my undergraduate education, in 1997, tuition fees were a mere $87.00 per credit hour. What else in our economy, besides gasoline, has increased at this rate in just 11 short years? While I understand the consistent and growing costs of providing university level education, it is difficult for me comprehend how increasing the fees associated with the tuition installment plan benefits the student body.

Emporia had an established policy that gave students the opportunity to pay tuition and fees in a timely, equitable manner. Your new extended payment policy will require students to pay a minimum of $100 in “administrative” fees and allows students to pay over a shortened period of time. Your new policy is not fair and it is not equitable. This policy will hurt students who work hard to pay their own way through college. I am disappointed that Emporia State’s administrators choose to implement this policy.

Cadie Maas, graduate student