2008 Woodie Awards
Three-peat fees can prove costly to students
Taking the same class three times means that students will have to pay out-of-state tuition rates.
By Jared Solis
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: News
Originally published: 9/13/07 at 4:33 PM CSTLast update: 9/13/07 at 4:32 PM CST
- Page 1 of 3 next >
It still catches a lot of students by surprise, he said.
Students show up to his office flustered and frustrated, wondering why their tuition bill is significantly higher than it was last semester.
"And we take a look at their records and find out that one of their classes is subject to the three-peat, out-of-state tuition, or two of their classes are subject to it," Martin Ortega, director of admissions and records, said. "Then they are fully aware."
What college administrators and state legislators are trying to make students fully aware of is the full cost of those classes - a cost that the taxpayers take the brunt of.
"For example, if you pay $30 to take a course, it costs the college $90 to teach it," Judy Kovacs-Long, chair of the counseling and student development center, said. "And so the taxpayers are paying about two-thirds of your tuition, be they local taxpayers, state taxpayers or federal taxpayers."
To assuage the taxpayers' burden by discouraging students from continually dropping classes, state legislators have introduced and passed similar bills to the three-peat rule over the past decade, including the most recent six-drop rule.
The three-peat rule, from a bill passed by the Texas State Legislature in 2005, allows public colleges to charge students out-of-state tuition for courses taken a third time.
Taxpayers in the past were having to pick up the tab for students who were dropping the same courses over and over because state funding for colleges is based on census enrollment.
While the law gives state institutions the choice to reserve the right of enforcing the three-peat rule, students who violate the three-peat rule will still not be counted in the census, which will affect the amount of funding that colleges get from the state.
This will essentially pass the financial burden from the taxpayers onto the colleges, making a compelling argument for public colleges to choose to enforce the three-peat rule and pass the financial burden onto the student by charging out-of-state tuition for dropped courses that drain funds and diminish resources.
Students show up to his office flustered and frustrated, wondering why their tuition bill is significantly higher than it was last semester.
"And we take a look at their records and find out that one of their classes is subject to the three-peat, out-of-state tuition, or two of their classes are subject to it," Martin Ortega, director of admissions and records, said. "Then they are fully aware."
What college administrators and state legislators are trying to make students fully aware of is the full cost of those classes - a cost that the taxpayers take the brunt of.
"For example, if you pay $30 to take a course, it costs the college $90 to teach it," Judy Kovacs-Long, chair of the counseling and student development center, said. "And so the taxpayers are paying about two-thirds of your tuition, be they local taxpayers, state taxpayers or federal taxpayers."
To assuage the taxpayers' burden by discouraging students from continually dropping classes, state legislators have introduced and passed similar bills to the three-peat rule over the past decade, including the most recent six-drop rule.
The three-peat rule, from a bill passed by the Texas State Legislature in 2005, allows public colleges to charge students out-of-state tuition for courses taken a third time.
Taxpayers in the past were having to pick up the tab for students who were dropping the same courses over and over because state funding for colleges is based on census enrollment.
While the law gives state institutions the choice to reserve the right of enforcing the three-peat rule, students who violate the three-peat rule will still not be counted in the census, which will affect the amount of funding that colleges get from the state.
This will essentially pass the financial burden from the taxpayers onto the colleges, making a compelling argument for public colleges to choose to enforce the three-peat rule and pass the financial burden onto the student by charging out-of-state tuition for dropped courses that drain funds and diminish resources.
This is an open forum for the readers of TheRanger.org. Abusive, inflammatory, slanderous, obscene and libelous language will not be tolerated. Please be considerate of other readers when posting comments. This is not the place for personal attacks. The staff of The Ranger.org reserves the right to deny publication of any posts. The comments posted here do not reflect the opinions of The Ranger staff, San Antonio College or the Alamo Community College District.
Be the first to comment on this story