Starting next month, the University of Arizona will automatically enroll students with unpaid tuition bills into a payment plan in a change officials hope will keep students in their scheduled classes.
Students must pay their tuition bills in full by the end of the first day of class — which this semester is Wednesday — or face a $50 late fee. In the past, students who didn't pay their bills within the first few weeks of the semester were dropped from their classes and had to work with several UA departments before being able to get back into a classroom.
Beginning this semester, students who have unpaid bills by the time the UA conducts its official student head count in February will be enrolled in a tuition payment plan and will remain in their classes, said Beth Acree, the UA's interim registrar.
The automatic enrollment, which will cost students $75, is aimed at helping reduce student anxiety and financial shortcomings amid a deepening recession, Acree said.
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Also, sometimes students receive grants, scholarships and other financial aid later than the UA's payment deadline, which can cause some students to worry that they'll be dropped from classes. That will no longer be the case.
The change also should save time for students, faculty members and administrators, Acree said.
In the past, administrators would have to manually drop students with unpaid bills and later add them again. That caused fluctuating class rosters, which made it difficult for faculty members to know who was in their classes.
Meanwhile, a student with unpaid bills would have to meet with officials at the UA's financial, registration and scholarship offices to get things straight.
"The whole process of cancellation was a huge time-consumer for students, administrators and faculty," Acree said. "It was just a very cumbersome process."
Rather than being dropped from classes in the first few weeks of the semester, students will be notified that they have unpaid bills and will be automatically enrolled in the program, which spreads out tuition payments over a four-month period.
The UA's payment plan has been around for several years as part of an effort to provide some flexibility for students to pay for their education.
Students who know in advance that they aren't going to be able to pay their tuition in full by Wednesday should sign up for the payment plan to avoid the $50 late fee, Acree said.
How It Works
What: The UA's tuition payment plan allows students to pay their bills in three installments over four months. This spring, students who haven't paid their bills within the first few weeks of class will be enrolled in the program automatically.
Cost: $75
Benefits: While the program costs extra, officials say that enrolling in the program before the end of the first day of class will keep students from having to pay a $50 late fee.
How: Students can sign up for the program by visiting Student Link, the online portal for tuition bills, registration and other university services. Log on to https://sl.arizona.edu/student_link/ to access Student Link.
