By
Maya Schechter
Arizona Daily Wildcat
New policy requires fees to be remitted in timely manner
UA students will be automatically dropped from their fall semester classes if they do not pay registration fees two weeks after the semester begins, based on a new policy set by the university.
In the past, students who had not paid their tuition by the payment deadline were dropped before the semester began - a policy which proved to have a negative impact on students, said Randall Richardson, interim vice president for undergraduate education.
"About 1,600 students were dropped from their classes because they didn't pay on time," Richardson said. "But the 1,200 students who re-registered may not have gotten their original classes back because they were already full."
University of Arizona administrators therefore decided to eliminate the policy, but after a few semesters, realized the school was losing too much money by letting unpaid students take classes.
"It meant that we were providing a free service, which is unfair to those students who had paid on time," Richardson said.
The UA receives a large amount of funding from the state of Arizona, but only for those students who have fully registered and paid. So the university is losing state-funded money, he added.
Students with unpaid fees have always had to pay late fees, but the new policy states that they will be dropped two weeks into the fall semester - Sept. 3 - if they still have not paid.
They will then have one more week to pay their fees, plus an additional $250 charge, and can then re-register for the classes.
"We are trying to have a less negative impact on the students - we are going to do everything we can to let them know about any money they owe," Richardson said.
Paying bills on time and constantly checking the university's Student Link are Richardson's recommendations for students to ensure they won't be dropped.
"If students are responsible and pay their bills, they have nothing to worry about," he added.
This policy will not affect those students who receive financial aid, so long as they pay their share of tuition, said John Nametz, director of need-based financial aid.
"If the financial aid covers all of a student's registration charges, no penalties will occur," he said. "But if the financial aid is not paying for 100 percent of their registration charges, they must pay the additional charges before the due date."
"This is a human and student-friendly way to motivate everyone to pay on time," Nametz added.
He also said the university has a short-term loan program for students who have need emergency financial assistance.
"If they indicate to us that they have a problem then we'll help them, even if they are not a typical financial aid student," he said.
