LETTER: Don’t punish part-time students

To the editor:

Once again, tuition and fee increases are being proposed for Utah State University students, but this time only the part-time students are being targeted. A proposal to lower the plateau from 13 to 12 credits benefits the full-time student, but penalizes the part-time student.

Part-time students attend the university on a part-time basis because in most cases they cannot afford to attend full time. They have families, work extra jobs and struggle to be able to attend the classes they do take.

The tuition plateau should be removed. Every student should pay the same amount of tuition and fees on a per-credit basis. Increasing fees of part-time students who already have limited time on campus is also harsh. Part-time students should not foot the bill for full-time students to go to school and attend activities.

Perhaps, ASUSU should discuss determining the amount of credits taken per semester by all students enrolled at USU and USU Eastern, and find a base or per-credit rate for tuition and fees.

Increasing the cost of tuition below the 12-credit plateau could reduce the number of students who will be able to attend the university on a part-time basis. If this occurs, the university will lose income instead of see it increase.

Having a tuition plateau also encourages students to possibly overload a course schedule to save money. In this situation, courses they might have performed well in suffer grade losses.

ASUSU needs to reconsider its move to add an additional 4 percent to tuition and an unstated amount to the fees of part-time students. Part-time students should not be responsible for paying for credits that full-time students are registered for. Tuition and fees need to be balanced and charged on a per-credit basis — not buy 12 get six free.

Marla Trowbridge