2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial
Visa not everywhere we want to be
Issue date: 4/12/06 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
It is enough of a hassle for students that have to make payments to the university for their tuition. Now to add insult to injury, WSU has added some new policies that are going to cause nothing but problems for students.
Effective this summer, students will no longer be able to pay their tuition in person with a credit card at the Bursar's office, but will be forced to do so online at Wings Xpress. Although this concept may seem to be offering more convenience, it really is not.
With this new payment policy, students will be charged a 2.75 percent service charge for each transaction. Although this might not seem like much, these charges can rack up when a student is paying in an installment plan over the span of four years or more.
Another problem with this new policy is that the Bursar's office will no longer be accepting Visa cards, one of the major credit card brands. So much for Visa being everywhere you want it to be, because it's no longer usable at WSU.
Wright State is masquerading this change as a benefit to students. Supposedly, the money WSU will be saving by not covering the service charges for credit card transactions will keep the cost of tuition down.
Annually, WSU claims it will be saving about $400,000. For an institution that charges its student populace almost $7,000 a year for tuition, this is mere peanuts.
Tuition is destined to go up. It always has, and it always will. People who say otherwise are fooling themselves. These new policies will not save students money; it will save the university money.
And the burden will only be applied to students. Faculty and staff will not have to pay the service charges for their transactions.
Wright State is not considering the comfort of its 16,000 customers, the students, in its new policies.
Effective this summer, students will no longer be able to pay their tuition in person with a credit card at the Bursar's office, but will be forced to do so online at Wings Xpress. Although this concept may seem to be offering more convenience, it really is not.
With this new payment policy, students will be charged a 2.75 percent service charge for each transaction. Although this might not seem like much, these charges can rack up when a student is paying in an installment plan over the span of four years or more.
Another problem with this new policy is that the Bursar's office will no longer be accepting Visa cards, one of the major credit card brands. So much for Visa being everywhere you want it to be, because it's no longer usable at WSU.
Wright State is masquerading this change as a benefit to students. Supposedly, the money WSU will be saving by not covering the service charges for credit card transactions will keep the cost of tuition down.
Annually, WSU claims it will be saving about $400,000. For an institution that charges its student populace almost $7,000 a year for tuition, this is mere peanuts.
Tuition is destined to go up. It always has, and it always will. People who say otherwise are fooling themselves. These new policies will not save students money; it will save the university money.
And the burden will only be applied to students. Faculty and staff will not have to pay the service charges for their transactions.
Wright State is not considering the comfort of its 16,000 customers, the students, in its new policies.
