Online courses cost surprises students
Campus Connection exacerbates situation
Some students taking online courses were in for a surprise when the time came to pay tuition.
Craig Schnell, NDSU’s vice president for academic affairs, said online courses are not covered by the tuition cap, which accounts for the extra charge some surprised students saw when they received their bills.
“ Online courses are offered through Distance and Continuing Education, and this is a self-support unit, so they have to charge tuition in order to support themselves. They don’t get support from the rest of the university,” Schnell said.
In addition, students are notified — albeit not very overtly — that the tuition cap does not apply to online courses. To view this information, students must click on the name of the course to get an in-depth description.
“ Some people seemed to find it; some people didn’t,” Schnell said.
Some blame the confusion on Campus Connection. Although Schnell has little to do with the format of Campus Connection, he said efforts will be made to make sure students are aware of the extra charge for online classes.
“ What we will try to do is to make it more explicit so that it’s right there,” Schnell said. In addition, Schnell is pushing for the course list to be available in paper format, at least until all the kinks are worked out of Campus Connection.
“ We’re trying to take the ‘dis’ out of ConnectND,” Schnell said.
According to The Associated Press, several students from an online psychology course are upset about the extra charges and want their money back.
Schnell said he would like to be able to do something for this small number of students, but he’s in a bit of a tough spot.
Giving the students their money back would mean a cancellation for a class that many students need to graduate, and current revenues don’t allow for a reimbursement.
Despite the higher cost of online classes, the majority of students don’t have a problem with the cost.
“ I had no idea that students basically pay as much for the convenience, but they seem to be willing to,” Schnell said.
Online classes allow for a certain level of convenience and independence, but trade-offs include difficulty getting help from professors and a somewhat impersonal feel.
Schnell attributes the increase in online courses to a changing college population — one geared more toward technology.
“ I have to admit that I have been surprised at the extent that they (online courses) have basically caught fire,” Schnell said.