HaveUHeard of These Fees for Online Classes?
There is no denying that college tuition, in and of itself, is a huge expense; however, on top of the cost, HaveUHeard that some classes have extra fees that may or may not be covered by some scholarships or prepaid programs?
Costs of online courses are usually equal to tuition plus a distance learning fee. Distance learning fees are authorized by the Florida statute. Fees vary by program, depending on specific costs of curriculum development, technology tools, and course mentors. Each program’s fees are examined annually and adjusted up or down accordingly, on a cost-recovery basis. Online courses will say when they register for that subject: “The cost of this course is equal to tuition and fees for the Academic Year 2020-2021 as determined by Student Business Services, plus a per credit hour distance learning fee (amounts vary).”
At UNF, there are several fees associated with various programs that are not technically covered by prepaid scholarships such as Florida Prepaid. These fees are often upwards of $600 on top of the school’s credit hour tuition rate. The Florida Prepaid scholarship only covers credit hour rates, so that means that the remainder will have to come out of your pocket unless you receive scholarships or financial aid from other sources. A breakdown of the fees at UNF, and a breakdown of tuition and fees.
Not only are there fees that are automatically due just for attending the university, but there are also additional fees associated with certain classes as well. Online classes are an additional $30/credit hour. For example, if you are enrolled in an online course, you will be required to pay an additional per credit hour fee depending on that class. These additional fees can sometimes be as high as $900 over the actual tuition fee. There are also fees associated with taking classes that require computer lab use (yes, even if you have your own laptop and don’t use the school computers). Remember, unless there is a flat amount charged, the fees listed are actually per credit hour so you will have to multiply that out to get the total amount. There are also fees for repeated class, late registration fees, late payment fees, and credit card convenience.
For those students fortunate to be a Florida Academic Scholar (100%) or Florida Medallion Scholar (75%) and have Florida Prepaid, there is often excess funds remaining after all other fees are deducted. This gets deposited or mailed to your students so they can use that for whatever they want, it can be college living expenses, meals, and yes, the auxiliary fees. If you have financial aid that pays your entire cost of attendance and gives you a refund check for the remaining balance, you may never be aware of the additional fee you’re being charged. For a detailed breakdown of tuition and fees, visit the tuition and fee statement on your students’ individual account or through UNF’s myWings.
Students need 120 credit hours to graduate and most people generally do, but the university gives you up to 135 credit hours before they start charging fees for every credit thereafter. Basically, if a student has a double major, took a minor, switched schools or majors, and may have fallen behind in required classes, have to take an additional course for acceptance to graduate school or accrued credits during a gap year or through various certification courses; they can easily fall into the excess hours’ range. If a student fails a course, withdraws from a course, uses grade forgiveness, drops a course after the drop period; it will count towards excess hours.
The Excess Credit Hour Surcharge requires universities to add a surcharge to each credit hour taken in excess of the total number of credit hours required to complete the degree being pursued. A bill just past that increases the credit hours a student entering a state university in the summer term of 2019 or thereafter may earn, from 110 percent to 120 percent of the degree program, before being required to pay the surcharge. Also, for a student who changes degree programs, the bill requires the university to adjust the excess credit hour threshold only if the number of credit hours required to complete the new degree program exceeds that of the original degree program.
Under Florida law, the following credit hours count towards excess credit hours: Failed courses, Hours dropped after the University’s drop/add period, Courses from which a student withdraws. Repeated courses. Exception: repeated courses for which the student has paid the repeat course surcharge as provided in Section 1009.285, Florida Statutes. All credit earned at another institution and accepted for transfer and applied toward the baccalaureate degree program. As an example, if your student had 2 excess hours, they would be charged 2.2 x the current base tuition rate. That now changes to 120% which will lower the charge. For more information about UNF’s excess hours. Students can check their excess hours or see how many hours they have left to take by following these steps:
- Log into myWings
- Select – Student Records
- Select – Student Self-Service > Select Student Records > Select Excess Hours Status
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