Pay Up
Students should accept responsibilities
The Skiff View

Like it or not, TCU runs a business and one of its primary goals is to make money.

Many students may harbor resentment against this dubious fact, but this is the way all private schools are run and we should have known this when we applied.

Through simple research administrators determined that many students waited to make tuition payments until there were holds on their accounts that kept them from registering for classes.

You know it. We know it. At some point either we or our parents have used this precise method to delay making tuition payments as long as possible.

And whether we like it or not, administrators are only doing what is best for the “business” by enforcing the holds and trying to maximize their profits.

Students can complain about tuition increases all they want, but it really just isn’t a part of the issue. If students aren’t paying their tuition, then they really shouldn’t expect to be able to attend class and just pay it off whenever it suits them best.

Be thankful that colleges don’t use the holds like our favorite credit cards. Then college students with poor credit end up being charged with a ridiculous 18.9 annual percentage rate.

Nearly 1,900 payments have been made since holds started being enforced and only approximately 200 students have yet to pay before the Jan. 18 deadline when they will be removed from the university.

Admittedly, expulsion is a harsh punishment for many and it’s a reality of life that many students will always struggle to meet their tuition payments as each one arrives.

However, when students have been warned repeatedly of the potential punishments, you really can’t blame administrators for following through with what they’ve been threatening.

In order for TCU to grow and gain greater prestige, the university can’t afford to lose drastic amounts of money. When a quarter of the student body or more is making tuition payments late or whenever it’s most convenient for them then TCU ends up losing substantial amounts of money.

As the cliché goes, the end justifies the means.

It’s a basic capitalistic attitude.

It’s the American way.

The TCU Daily Skiff © 2002