I have seen no change in my girls’ room charges or their tuition. They are ‘going back’ but only at half seated class and will be back home weeks earlier. One of the girls’ tuition is even higher than last year?
What experiences are others having with this?
@toomanyteens DD’s school postponed move in for 5 weeks; classes will begin on time, online. We received a credit for room/board for the 5 weeks. I would not expect a tuition reduction for online or hybrid, since it’s more expensive for the school (new software, apps, licensing fees, cameras in classrooms, mics, etc.). I do not expect a reduction in housing once they move in, since she will be in the dorm, even if only attending each class once or twice a week; I think a small reduction in the meal plan cost would be nice, since they will have fewer options and will not have “unlimited” access to the dining hall. I hope/expect there will be a room/board credit, if they don’t return to campus after Thanksgiving (which is probably going to be the case). I know several people have decided to defer, thinking the hybrid or online doesn’t have the same value for them personally. I get that; we left it up to DD. She was emphatic, no deferral.
DD’s school has them arriving on schedule but clearing out before Thanksgiving with online classes from home until finals. No room and board reduction (used to have 24-hour dining with unlimited swipes but now there will be delivered meals to rooms for the first 2 weeks for quarantine and limited access after) and a 3.5% tuition increase. About 7% of the students have already decided to stay home with more expected to do so once the final decisions are made about which classes are in person.
D’s school arrives on schedule, out by Thanksgiving too. It’s about a 2 week difference. Tuition is the same (year 9 of a tuition freeze) but they increased the number of meal plan dollars and swipes for the same cost as last year. Usually they don’t include Sunday dinner but they want to encourage students to remain on campus. If students opted for fully online, there was a tuition discount equivalent to summer session (about 15% off).
S19 originally had 2 in person, 2 online classes and we were going to send him back…then a week or two ago he discovered all were online. They start as scheduled but ending in person classes at Thanksgiving break. Kind of disappointing hat he won’t be going back because I feel like he gained a lot of independence and some forced socialization (on spectrum). We couldn’t see spending thousands of dollars on room and board for online classes and he is fine with staying home and taking classes online. We do risk him not having housing in the spring, but he may have all online classes then as well and stay home. Hoping that all will be better by 2021.
S17 just switched to all online, except lab classes. He’ll go back since he’s off campus in a 2 person 2 bedroom apartment and we’re locked into the lease anyway. But the university did announce a 10% tuition cut a couple weeks ago.
@Tigerwife92 As one of mine is a senior they kind of have us by the short hairs! I mean what are we going to do at this point? They already decided to vacate at Thanksgiving but no word on lowered room rate.
Maddening isn’t it? We saw a tuition increase too.
My son’s school sent survey to all student’s to select preferred mode of instruction. Then we learned the survey doesn’t mean anything to us. Originally we thought the school would accommodate the students’ preference but actually course offerings are based on professors’ preference of mode of instruction. I went to school website to monitor the list of the courses held totally online every day. It is a huge list. So we decided to just stay home studying online.
Forgot to mention that there is no talk about any tuition discount on school website. No emails either.
@toomanyteens ugghh, so sorry for your daughter. I hope they decide to give you guys a prorated credit. Good luck this year; I hope they all stay healthy!
I think a discount will not happen. The schools are facing the same increases in costs that we all are at the grocery store every day. The costs of groceries, cleaning products, gas. Many restaurants or take out around here have a ‘covid charge’ of $2+ on the tabs.
The schools may be serving less food because no more ‘all you can eat’ but they’ll need a lot of paper products, individual ketchup and salt packets, lots of foil, papers, bags, boxes and people to deliver those take out meals and more people to clean up the trash.
I wouldn’t expect a tuition discount - the school will probably say you are paying for credits which you are still receiving. Our room and board are adjusted based on total weeks to correspond with leaving campus before Thanksgiving (online finals right after and done by Dec 4th).
All of the professors at my daughter’s school could pick their option - in person or online. Other than a handful of classes that have to be in person (say a specific nursing class) students have the option of doing an in person class remotely. In a few classes where the room is now too small to support the whole class with everyone 6 feet apart half of the class may go one day and do remote the next class etc. My daughter’s classes all appear to be in person classes. Our tuition did go up but maybe about $200. Considering how much money our school has spent on changes many of which are safety related I didn’t find it be upsetting.
Why would anyone expect a tuition discount? Colleges’ costs aren’t going down. They still need to pay professors, staff, and administrators. They still need to maintain campus buildings and grounds even if fewer people are using them. There’s probably not a single area where their costs are reduced as a consequence of going to an online model. And most of them don’t have a sufficient financial cushion to be able to operate at a loss. It may feel like you’re getting less for your money by taking classes online, and you may well be. But you can’t realistically expect colleges to take a hit by cutting tuition. They’re already hurting from declining enrollments during the pandemic. They can’t possibly afford to take a double hit by cutting tuition on top of the losses they’re already suffering…
Our school gave a 10% tuition discount. Courses are online except for labs, but plans to go in person if it becomes an option.
Actually, if the campuses are mostly closed (going all online/remote), the costs should go down. Utilities, reduction in staff (yes, that hurts but not students’ responsibility to pay for workers not working).
But no need for the schools to pass on any savings (unless pressed) since they anticipate an enrollment decline anyway and some may still be paying off what happened in the Spring.
Those that have, kudos to them.
Our university isn’t laying off staff. There’s just as much work for staff to do whether classes are online or in person. Where would the reduced need for work come from? Should the registrar stop registering students, recording grades, and issuing transcripts, ? Should the admissions office stop recruiting students? Should the placement office stop helping students and recent graduates find jobs? Should secretaries stop doing the typing, copying , and filing they do for professors and administrators? Should the financial aid office stop processing FA applications? Should grant writers stop writing grant applications? Should maintenance staff stop doing necessary repairs and maintenance on facilities and equipment? Should financial services staff stop paying bills and issuing paychecks?
The only savings I can see is some slight reduction in utility costs due to fewer toilets being flushed and buildings not being heated s much in winter and cooled as much in summer, but that’s a trivial percentage of a college’s overall budget, and even there the savings might not be nearly as great as you might imagine. Building temperatures must be maintained at a minimum level to keep the pipes from freezing in winter, and at most colleges that means keeping a central steam plant running at a cost not much different from that incurred when the school is in full operation.
Of course, there might be some reduction in housing and dining hall staff, but these are usually treated as self-supporting enterprises independent of the core budget, neither supported by nor supporting general revenue and expenditures, consequently wholly independent of tuition. And any savings from personnel reductions in these areas will be offset by the loss off room and board revenue, while likely some key personnel will need to be be kept on the payroll, with the net effect that housing and dining services are now operating at a loss instead of being self-supporting as in the past. And of course, the residence halls and dining halls still need to be kept up whether or not any students are currently using them, so those costs will need to be absorbed by the core budget, too.
In short, any “savings” to the college from going online are purely illusory.
I am talking custodial. Lab techs unless they are able to assist online. Mail room staff (not as many needed perhaps). Positions whose jobs cannot be done remotely.
Also less facilities workers needed if less use of the rooms.
But true, the savings may not be that much when schools are looking at the losses they took in the Spring.
Also, lots of businesses and families are taking a hit, many are hurting, though this is off topic.
I have kids at three different state schools none are reducing tuition. One school has stated that there will be no room and board refund after move in. So if they close after a month you are home and out the money. BUT if you decide to not return to dorm in the fall (and not take that financial chance) you also give up your housing in the spring which could be a real problem depending on spring plans. State school #2 is giving a $400 discount if ALL of your classes are on line. Of course many students have 1 class in person so they are not even getting that ohhh so generous 1% . The $400 is supposed to represent a discount on facilities since they are not running much of the transportation throughout campus and activities at the rec center which tuition should be covering. School 3 is financially all the same as usual.
@User2987456 - That is just awful. Talk about strong arming students into fall housing. Sheez. Sorry you have lose/lose options.