Ohio State is footing the bill so students can take a free May Session course, but the university will be cashing checks for fees.
Nancy Wygle, OSU Office of Enrollment Services spokeswoman, explained the free credit applies only to tuition fees, including instructional, general and nonresident fees, and will fluctuate from student to student.
University Registrar Brad Myers said “other enrollment-related fees will be assessed as they would be for any student enrolled in the summer session,” in an email.
Wygle said these other fees might include Central Ohio Transit Authority and activity fees. Fees also vary between departments, meaning the rate will be slightly different for every student enrolled in the May session.
However, some OSU students said they don’t mind the small fee in relation to what they will be saving in the long run.
Kyle Hoyer, a second-year in health sciences, said the free class was his deciding factor.
“Once I heard that you could enroll in a course that was three credit hours without paying tuition, I figured I should take advantage of the situation, regardless of the fees,” he said. “Since we are being offered the opportunity to take a course during May Session without paying tuition, I do believe that the additional fee is reasonable because it’s probably less than the price you would typically pay for a course offered during the summer.”
According to a tuition schedule from Fall Semester 2012, undergraduate students at the Columbus campus pay more than $1,100 in tuition for three credit hours.
Hoyer will be taking a human physiology course during May Session.
Alex Cardenas, a first-year in pre-nursing, is enrolled in a nursing assistant class for May.
She said money had a lot to do with her decision to enroll in May Session.
“Usually these nursing assistant classes are about $400 to $500 to take from private companies. So even with that $80 fee, that’s definitely a whole lot better than $500 from some private company,” Cardenas said.
The first-year also said she got on board with May Session because it gives her an opportunity to do clinicals at OSU’s Wexner Medical Center.