Hourly tuition charges may have University of Memphis students paying more each semester if the Tennessee Board of Regents goes forward with their new pricing plans.
The new system would charge students by the hour instead of billing them a flat fee. The TBR is considering changing the way that they charge students for tuition. The new system would charge students by the hour instead of charging them a flat fee.
"We don't know that the pricing system will change," said Mary Morgan, director of communications for the TBR. "We're just exploring the possibilities."
Any proposed changes would not be in effect for at least a year, according to Morgan.
Under the proposed system more students would pay higher tuition each semester, but part-time students would pay less per hour, Morgan said.
"There are a couple of reasons that the change is being considered," Morgan said. "Some students are course shopping. Also, at present, part-time students pay more than full-time students over time. We want to look at that and see if it is discouraging people from completing their education."
Course shopping is when students deliberately sign up for more classes than they plan to attend with the intention of dropping the ones that they don't like, which keeps class availability down, according to Morgan.
"If you are getting hurt by class shopping, you should just be sure to sign up for classes on time," said Jules Munn, a part-time student a The University of Memphis. "It certainly doesn't make sense that you should be punished for taking more hours."
A limit on the number of hours that a student could drop per semester would cut down on class shopping and make people choose their courses more wisely, Munn said.
"The TBR is in the process of installing a new administrative software system that will affect every campus," Morgan said. "The existing administrative software system is obsolete and no longer supported by its maker."
The new system is designed to bill tuition by the semester hour, and while that can be modified, we are unsure, at this time, what the cost might be."
The idea of changing the system has been discussed on several occasions, but the TBR felt that it would be a good idea to study the possibility of doing it that way, Morgan said.
"It is a pretty complicated matter as to who will be helped and who will be hurt," she said. "It's not a huge controversy, but it is something that we would like to take a good look at."
Despite their good intentions, said Vickie Miller, a criminal justice major, the TBR should consider total cost the most important thing.
"It is already hard enough for me to go to school. Most scholarships are for people that are in-state," Miller said. "Making college more affordable is more important. I know a lot of people that have dropped out recently because tuition is too high."
There is no reason that students who work harder should have to pay more, according to Andrew DeShazo, a criminal justice major.
"There should be a better solution," DeShazo said. "I don't want to pay increased prices because of my aggressive course load. It would deter people from taking more classes."
The increased prices might force some students to take fewer classes each semester, but pay more over time for their education, DeShazo said.
"It seems like they are just trying to milk more money out of us," he said.
It might be fair to charge all students for what they use, said Mike Jones, a political science major. "I don't want to pay more, though."
The school, although it is a non-profit, is a business, according to Chris Wollard, an art major.
"Anyone that is motivated to get through school quicker should be rewarded," Wollard said. "There are people that just want to get done and get on with their life. They shouldn't pay more."
