2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial: On top of registration, students faced with debt
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial
It's that time of year again. Students are looking for the spring course booklets and hoping to register in time to get into their favorite class or fulfill a few dire course requirements. Professors and advisors are meeting with students to go over degree audits and even a few degree changes.
However, some students are not having an easy time with class registration. With grant money and scholarships becoming harder to come by, students may frequently end up with an unpaid account balance by the time registration rolls around. If the money isn't paid soon enough, a hold is placed on a student's account. It usually doesn't matter how low the remaining balance is. Once a hold is placed on a student account, it is nearly impossible to get it off without paying up.
It shouldn't surprise most people that college students don't have money. That is, after all a criteria for being a full-time college student - especially undergraduate. Some students work enough to scrounge up money for food and bills, hoping their financial aid, loans, parents and any combination of the above will be able to cover tuition costs. As everyone knows, that doesn't always happen - whether due to unexpected expenses, inability to obtain financial aid or confusion about the loan application process.
Registering on time is vital to graduating on time. Required core classes fill up fast and most professors are sticklers when it comes to taking extra students on the rolls. There is nothing sadder than a student crying on the phone with the business office administrator, hoping he or she will temporarily remove the hold on their account so the student can register for classes.
Most students are too far along in their studies to skip out on a $200 balance and the prospects of a Webster University degree. So what is all the fuss about?
Students understand that a portion of every university is run like a business. But sometimes the world can feel like it's ending for someone when they don't know how they are going to pay their balance before classes are nearly impossible to get into. Sometimes all a student needs to ease them from going into panic mode is a little compassion.
Students - remember that when you're running around campus will a fist full of pink ad/drop slips or waiting outside of the Registrar's office at 8 a.m. waiting for the door to open so you can get one of the three seats left in a certain class - there's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
However, some students are not having an easy time with class registration. With grant money and scholarships becoming harder to come by, students may frequently end up with an unpaid account balance by the time registration rolls around. If the money isn't paid soon enough, a hold is placed on a student's account. It usually doesn't matter how low the remaining balance is. Once a hold is placed on a student account, it is nearly impossible to get it off without paying up.
It shouldn't surprise most people that college students don't have money. That is, after all a criteria for being a full-time college student - especially undergraduate. Some students work enough to scrounge up money for food and bills, hoping their financial aid, loans, parents and any combination of the above will be able to cover tuition costs. As everyone knows, that doesn't always happen - whether due to unexpected expenses, inability to obtain financial aid or confusion about the loan application process.
Registering on time is vital to graduating on time. Required core classes fill up fast and most professors are sticklers when it comes to taking extra students on the rolls. There is nothing sadder than a student crying on the phone with the business office administrator, hoping he or she will temporarily remove the hold on their account so the student can register for classes.
Most students are too far along in their studies to skip out on a $200 balance and the prospects of a Webster University degree. So what is all the fuss about?
Students understand that a portion of every university is run like a business. But sometimes the world can feel like it's ending for someone when they don't know how they are going to pay their balance before classes are nearly impossible to get into. Sometimes all a student needs to ease them from going into panic mode is a little compassion.
Students - remember that when you're running around campus will a fist full of pink ad/drop slips or waiting outside of the Registrar's office at 8 a.m. waiting for the door to open so you can get one of the three seats left in a certain class - there's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
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