The University is extending a policy allowing students with unpaid tuition balances of over $1,000 to pre-register for classes, but this will likely be the last semester of the program, according to Elizabeth Gentry, assistant vice president of financial and administrative services.
Approximately 100 students will utilize this waiver program during the current pre-registration period, which began Tuesday, Gentry said. This is less than half the number of students who took advantage of the program last registration period.
The waiver program was originally put in place during the pre-registration period of fall 2008, and has been available each semester since then.
"In most of the time I've been here, we haven't had to do anything like this," Gentry said, "But the financial situation we faced in 2008 warranted the University taking some unusual steps to help families in need."
Gentry said that while she is not precisely sure why some families have had trouble paying, the economic crisis has increased the number of families that could not pay their bills on time. "Some families have the money and are just late to pay, while others are actually in need of assistance," Gentry said.
Regardless of the reasons for families' inability to pay, the University felt it necessary to keep this program going through this current pre-registration period, though the Office of the Provost did not formally announce this extension, as it had in previous semesters, Gentry said.
According to Gentry, this lack of a formal announcement is in part due to the fact that the University does not plan to extend this policy to the next pre-registration period.
"We're reaching out to affected students to let them know it's available, but we're also letting them know that this is probably the last time," Gentry said. "We haven't been seeing the level of difficulty we had initially anticipated, so it's not likely that we will continue offering the waivers."
Gentry added that a final decision has not been made and that, given certain circumstances, the program could be extended once again.
Even without this waiver in place, the University plans on continuing its outreach to families in need and ensuring that there is communication between both parties.
"Generally when working with families, we work on a case-by-case basis," Gentry said. "We were communicating with families about their financial difficulties even before this program was initiated."
Gentry said the effects of the 2008 crisis left many families unsure of their financial situations, but some of that initial confusion is gone now.
"As things have started settling down, families have had time to adjust their financial packaging in order to meet their needs," Gentry said.
