Flat-rate allows for fewer penalties
Students won’t face fines for dropping classes with policy

By Carrie Woodall
Staff Reporter

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of stories on how examining the impact comprehensive tuition will have on the university.

Students might take advantage of the flat-rate tuition policy by enrolling for more hours than they plan on taking and then dropping those classes, thus hurting other students in the registration process, Ray Brown, dean of admissions, said Wednesday.

“If a student enrolls in a class just to check it out with the intention that they might drop the course, then that leaves other students, who need the course, less of a chance to register if the class becomes full,” he said.

Incoming students next fall will not face a financial penalty for dropping a class under the flat-rate tuition, but returning students will continue to pay by percentages for dropped classes, said Patrick Miller, registrar and director of enrollment management.

“There is no additional cost because incoming students pay a set price no matter how many classes they take between 12 and 18 hours,” he said.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said he thinks entering students should not enroll for more than 15 hours.

“It would not be sensible for anyone to recommend to entering students that they enroll for 18 hours,” he said.

Returning students receive 100 percent refund if they drop within the first week of classes, he said. The second week they receive a 75 percent refund and the amount of the refund decreases 25 percent each week, he said.

Brown said there could be a problem concerning the university if there is no financial penalty felt by the incoming students for dropping a class.

“At registration, we may end up with a whole bunch of classes that are just allegedly full, but later in the semester find that the classes really aren’t full because students had the freedom to drop whenever,” he said.

Kylie Norrell, a senior fashion promotion major, said she wishes returning students had the same advantage to not pay for dropped classes.

“I think it is a good thing for the incoming students because they can more easily choose their classes,” she said. “However, I wish we had the same opportunity when we entered college.”

Brown said the flat-rate policies could be abused for personal gain by students who shop around for their classes.

He said although this may seem like a huge issue now, a year from now these problems will not even have to be discussed. Every private institution that is based on a flat-rate tuition has been faced with this situation and has found no real trouble, he said.

“Other private schools that have been through the transition process for a flat-rate structure would probably be laughing at us for worrying about this,” Brown said.

Carrie Woodall
c.d.woodall@student.tcu.edu