BEN DAVIDOFF

East Asian studies senior Owen Lei waits among many other students to handle UA related finances in the Bursar's office yesterday afternoon. As financial deadlines approach, the administration building has been periodically stuffed with slow-moving lines of students.

Friday August 31, 2001

Approximately 2,000 students have not yet paid, officials say

Students who have not yet paid their tuition or who owe the UA more than $25 have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to pay tuition and other fees before they are dropped from their classes.

As of Wednesday, 2,104 students had not yet paid, said Randy Richardson, interim vice president for Undergraduate Education.

Out of $100 million that the University of Arizona should receive in tuition revenue this semester, students still owe $8 million, Richardson said.

Students who have not paid by the due date will face class cancellation due to the UA policy that was reinstated this semester.

Students who pay between today and the Tuesday deadline will pay an additional $50 late fee but will still be able to keep their classes. Those who pay between Tuesday and Sept. 10 will need to reschedule all of their classes and pay a $50 fee, Richardson said.

Students who pay after 4 p.m. on Sept. 10 must reschedule their classes and pay $300 in late fees. Students who do not drop their classes but who are still registered on Sept. 4 will be billed accordingly.

Part-time students who pay after Tuesday will have to pay one and a half times their tuition, but no more than the full-time tuition rate, Richardson said.

Richardson said there are a few common reasons that students have not paid.

"Some people are not terribly aware that they owe money," he said, despite three notices sent to students who have owed money since Aug. 6.

Students who have yet to receive their financial aid funding can apply for temporary loans from the financial aid office.

There is a current fund of $750,000 set up through the UA Foundation for students who need a loan while waiting for their checks to arrive. The deadline for students to apply for temporary loans at the Office of Financial Aid is noon Tuesday.

There are also students who plan to drop out but have not done so yet.

"It's hard for us to reach (students who don't attend)," Richardson said. "It's a little hard for us to know if they're here or not."

Collecting tuition is vital because it determines how much funding the UA will receive from the Arizona State Legislature and the Arizona Board of Regents, Richardson said.

"Each full-time student is $4,000 (of funding received from the state)" said Rick Kroc, director of assessment and enrollment research.

Considering the number of students who have yet to pay, the university would lose $8.4 million in state funding, on top of tuition revenue.

The state uses a census method to determine funding.

"If you don't pay, you don't get to be counted as a student who is here, in terms of funding the university," Richardson said.

The university has had a history of trouble collecting tuition.

From fall semester 2000 to spring semester 2001, classes were not cancelled for those students who had not paid their tuition.

The UA lost tuition and state revenue as a result of students who never paid their tuition but kept attending classes, Richardson said.

"Each semester (during the class non-cancellation policy), an increasing number of people did not pay," Richardson said. "People were saying 'I'll pay (tuition) if I can,' so they may have been trying to pay it, but they didn't pay it, and they didn't get (their classes) cancelled."

Those students who have never paid their tuition for past semesters will not be allowed to register for classes or view their transcripts until they have paid.

However, this year, students get more time to register than in previous years.

"We've never had (class) cancellations part way into the semester," Richardson said.

In years past, students who had not paid their tuition before classes began would have had them cancelled.

"In fall 1999, 1,600 students had their classes cancelled (for not paying tuition on time)," Richardson said. "1,200 of those (students) re-registered, but we thought that was really bad."

Richardson encourages students who owe money to pay via Webreg on the university's Web site or the RSVP phone service.

"I'm nervous that all 2,000 will try to pay Tuesday afternoon," Richardson said. "I think (lines are) going to be pretty bad (today)."