Eric Walker
Equinox Staff
When registering for spring courses, students who choose a schedule consisting of five four-credit classes will find an increase in their tuition.
In the wake of these tough economic times, the maximum number of credits a full time Keene State College student is allotted per semester, without facing extra fees, will decrease from 20 to 18.
Full-time students had been offered a window of 12 to 20 credits per semester since the start of the current four-credit per course system, implemented in 2007.
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Before 2007 the average course held a weight of three credits, and students were given a window of 12 to 18, according to Keene State College’s Registrar Tom Richard. Keene State College Provost Melinda Treadwell said that there was much talk at the time of the switch to the four-credit model surrounding students’ work loads.
She said the decision to reduce the maximum number of credits from 20 to 18 was made for two reasons: to allow students to focus more on the courses they do take, and to generate revenue.
“When students are taking five or more classes, in addition to being spread thin amongst many courses, it increases cost of instruction to the college, and some financial recovery would be helpful,” Treadwell said.
One semester’s tuition for a full-time student this upcoming spring will have a price tag of $10,410 for New Hampshire residents, and $17,310 for out-of-state students.
Students taking over 18 credits will face a “per credit overload charge” of $440 per semester, according to Student Financial Services. The charge will be the same for in-state and out-of-state students.
KSC Registrar Tom Richard said semester after semester he has seen that students who enrolled in over 16 credits were more likely than the average student to complete all of their courses, and did so with a higher average GPA. “Students who are doing this are both motivated and capable,” Richard said.
So you really don’t have a leg to stand on to say that we’re doing this to try to discourage students from taking a fifth course for academic reasons. I don’t see how that argument can be justified based on the data,” he said.
Danielle Sinvil, an environmental studies major, said she was livid upon hearing the news.
Sinvil is also an occupational safety minor, which she said will require her to take five four-credit courses next semester.
Under the new policy she will see an $880 hike in her tuition bill. Transfer students might be the hardest hit by the new policy, with some finding themselves in need of a 20-credit course load to make` up for credits that were non-transferable from their past institutions.
Transfer student Matt Zuppani is currently registered for 16 credits but has registered for 20 in past semesters. Zuppani said that although he rather not pay it, the $440 charge wouldn’t discourage him from taking over 18 credits again if it were necessary for his graduation, because in the grand scheme of things the charge is very small compared to the total cost of his education. The college’s nearly 50 percent slash in state appropriation in recent years led to a decrease of nearly $6 million in the college’s annual operating budget, according to KSC’s 2012 Operational Budget Summary.
Budget cuts have led the college to increase tuition for all students, as well as consolidate staff positions, delay strategic initiatives, modify custodial and food service contracts, and decrease employee benefits, according to former President Helen Giles-Gee, in a press release this past February and in an interview she gave with the Nashua Telegraph this past May.
KSC junior Sarah Voorhis said, “It seems like they’re punishing kids who want to study harder and be better students, and that doesn’t seem fair to me at all.”
Richard said, “We’ve been 12 to 20 full-time status since fall 2007; so for five years the institution didn’t touch it. That suggests to me that it wasn’t the first place they went to find money.”
However, despite the budget cuts, the college has continued to increase financial aid, according to Treadwell. Treadwell said that the change was publicized to incoming students in their informational packets, as well as to all students on the KSC website.
Richard said he plans to help inform students of the change by sending a MyKSC announcement sometime before spring registration. Which is when he believes students will be most receptive to the information.
“I would say that they’re trying to balance the budget in ways that are least damaging, however you want to define that.” Richard said.
“I would have to say they’re making a good faith effort to try to make this work as best they can under the circumstances, and because of the circumstances they’re looking everywhere. They’re turning over a lot of rocks. This is a rock that they haven’t turned over before, and it’s being turned over now,” he said.
Eric Walker can be contacted at
ewlkaer@keene-equinox.com.