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Outstanding student debt decreases The university stands to collect more than $5 million in student payments since Jan. 4, following its announcement that students with unpaid minimum balances would be dropped from classes today if they did not fulfill their financial obligations, said TCU Controller Cheryl Wilson. Wilson said as of noon Thursday, 60 students, whose minimum balances total approximately $200,000, are in danger of not being able to enroll in fall classes or return to TCU if they don’t make payment arrangements by 5 p.m. TCU expects to collects the payments in coming weeks based on guaranteed loans or other verifiable funds, Wilson said. “It’s overwhelming how much we have collected since Monday,” she said. “It’s a credit to the students for being responsible in their payments and to the staff who have been working with every student.” Carol Campbell, vice chancellor for finance and business, said TCU has not instituted a new, more-stringent policy but is instead enforcing payments in order to cover TCU’s operating costs. She said TCU relies on the $68 million it collects in tuition revenue to pay a substantial portion of its $155 million operation budget. “It is unfair for the university to continue to allow students to attend TCU if they are not paying and are in essence asking other students to float them until the end of the semester,” she said. “You wouldn’t go to a restaurant, order a meal and then when the bill comes tell the waiter you only want to pay one third of it. The same concept applies here.” Campbell said university research indicates that 90 percent of TCU students wait to pay their bills. She said the motivation behind the university’s enforcement is “not at all a way to punish students, but rather to collect as we should have been all along.” “We merely want the students here to meet their end of the contract they make with the university when they agree to attend TCU,” she said. “We provide them with a great, well-balanced educational experience and resources, and in return they pay us the tuition we use to pay salaries and run the day-to-day operations.” Mike Scott, director of scholarships and financial aid, said he was astonished at the number of students with outstanding balances who had not ever capitalized on their financial aid opportunities. “Some of these students have been eligible for aid but had not come to us or followed through on the paper work.” he said. “We have been working hard to ensure every student with a hold has looked at loans, grants — every option.” He said university staff has been working diligently with each student to ensure everyone who owes money understands where funds and assistance are available. “When I first came to TCU (in the late 1980s) we, like almost any other institution required students to pay upfront or at least regularly,” he said. “Over the years we got lax and students took advantage of that. Now things have snowballed.” Wilson said she anticipates that once this week’s “payment frenzy” subsides, students and parents will understand regular payments will be collected. Campbell said ultimately students and parents must decide whether their priorities make attending TCU possible. “We don’t want to deter students, but we don’t want those here to accrue large debts either,” she said. “At graduation you must settle your account — better to start settling now than wait until you find out you won’t get a diploma.” Jamie
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