Charged out of state when I am a resident. Help?

Paying for College
1

I was expecting my refund this semester, and I never got one. I went to my payment section for my school and saw that I still owed and that my financial aid/loans hadn’t covered my tuition. This was a red flag because it should have by the calculations I made. I went into the account activity to find the bill and found out I’ve been charged out-of-state tuition for 2 years. I have emailed the school about it and appealed my residence status, but the thing is the years before 2020 I was being charged in-state tuition like I was supposed to. There was a year gap where I wasn’t going to this school, but still attended a community college in state. My residency shouldn’t have changed when I enrolled the following year.

I’m wondering if there is any possible way to be refunded for the semesters I was inaccurately charged. Where would I start? I live in Michigan if that helps, attending Western Michigan University.

I know I should have looked more closely at my bills, but I always expected a slightly higher tuition than my calculations due to fees associated with a lot of my classes; just this semester it was a couple thousand-dollar difference. The other semesters were also part-time enrollment, and this semester was full-time enrollment, and that also affected my aid/loans/tuition/ as to why I didn’t notice it earlier.

2

Did you live in another state at any time during your break from Western? Or did your parents move?

3

Go to or contact the bursars office ASAP….and find out what happened.

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4

The Bursar doesn’t handle residency issues at WMU. Here is the residency policy: Residency Policy for In-State Tuition | Policies | Western Michigan University. If you want to appeal your residency, there is a policy to appeal through the Registrar’s and Provost’s Offices. Here is the appeal form (I found it on the WMU website): Residency Appeal Application | Registrar's Office | Western Michigan University.

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5

Neither me nor my parents have ever lived in another state.

6

Thank you. I contacted the registrar about this and filled out the appeal earlier today. I was just wanting to know if anyone had an idea about getting the money back the school had charged me for being out-of-state when I have never lived out of state, and was previously paying in-state.

7

When the registrar responded to me with the appeal information, I asked if this will change the amount I was billed for this current semester and their response was “We do not know”. So I am stuck where to go/ who to contact after this.

8

Cross posted. If you feel like you need an advocate, contact the Ombudsman’s Office for assistance. Let us know what happens.

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9

Different state, but several years ago, our son was charged nonresident tuition by mistake also. He never lived out of state and had transferred from another in-state college.

I don’t know if they assume a transfer student is not a resident until they provide proof? Anyway, he took care of it quickly without our involvement. I hope your situation is fixed as easily.