Some students jolted by QUAD tuition error
Students whose QUAD balance took a leap last week may assured the leap was due to a computer glitch and they will not have to pay extra money.
Technical errors in programming the tuition tables for spring semester have caused a “balance-owed” for tuition-paying students at USU.
“Students were not assessed tuition correctly for spring semester,” said Heidi Beck, associate registrar.
The tuition differences ranged from $15-$200 or more per person. Realizing the magnitude of this financial loss for the university, the decision was made to recalculate tuition and put charges on student accounts as summer tuition tables were loaded.
“This change was set to affect all 22,000 students but the system crashed after about 7,000,” said Beck.
These balances would have prevented students from walking in Commencement, receiving their degrees, obtaining transcripts and registering for future semesters.
A little over a month away until graduation, the decision has left some students concerned with “unexplained” balances on their student accounts.
“From the president down to us [in the Registration/Cashiers Office] we are committed to not making people pay,” said Beck.
Students who did pay this extra tuition will be issued a refund that can be used in future terms or can be requested to be sent in a check back to them.
Students are encouraged to check their account balances over the next week to make sure errors are corrected to prevent problems at graduation and registering.
-jill.prichard@usu.edu