New tuition policy guaranteed for all students
By Leanna Gable
[email protected]
Assistant Editor
A new tuition policy is in effect at GHC. The Board of Regents has approved a guaranteed tuition policy for all new students in the University System of Georgia effective fall 2006.
According to Todd Jones, director of admissions, the policy will freeze a new student's tuition for three years at two-year colleges such as GHC, but the policy allows freezes on tuition for only four years in the four-year institutions.
The extra year of guaranteed tuition at two-year colleges is to allow part-time students, who may be juggling work or family responsibilities and classes, longer to complete degree requirements.
Under the new plan students can know exactly what they will be expected to pay for tuition if they finish their program of study on time.
The new policy is designed to help parents and families plan for the cost of tuition, but also to serve as an incentive for students to finish their program of study on schedule, Jones said.
Dr. Ron Shade, vice president of student services, said that the new policy is "definitely student friendly." He stated that the new policy "slows down" the "runaway train" of increasing tuition for students.
However, part-time students or other students who take longer than three years to complete their education may see as much as a 12 percent increase in tuition at the end of the three years, according to Jones. This is because tuition typically goes up 3 to 4 percent a year.
Jones said that the admission office is responsible for identifying which students the policy applies to but that students should check their tuition bill each semester to make sure no mistakes have been made.
Each student is coded a certain way inside the University System of Georgia so that students can be properly tracked.
However, according to Jones, tracking transfer students may present some difficulties.
Sandie Davis, registrar, said that the new change may be somewhat "difficult to administer" because each student falling under the umbrella of the new policy has to be individually processed by his or her entry date.
Freshman Alex Mills, a history major from LaFayette, said, "I'm not really worried about it because I don't plan on being here that long."
Freshman, Natasha Martin, a biology major from Canton, does not look at the changes so neutrally because "it takes most people longer to get their degree" than the policy allows.
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