Editorial: Plan to drop a class?

If you signed up for extra classes thinking you’d drop a few after deciding what you like, know this: You have until Sunday to drop a class without partially paying for it.

Portland State students receive full refunds on their tuition until the start of week two, when refunds drops to 70 percent. This means students are liable for 30 percent of their tuition after one week of classes. The bill grows incrementally each week until week five, when students owe the full amount.

For instance, say an ambitious student takes four classes, but during week two realizes they need to drop one of them—they still have to pay for 30 percent of the dropped class. The total amount due is even greater for business students, graduate students and out-of-state students.

The policy isn’t new, though some students are only noticing it now. Portland State administrators explained the one-week policy benefits students because financial aid—which is determined by credit amount—can be distributed sooner.

They also said the policy reduces the number of students who register for classes they’ll just drop, leaving more room for resolute students instead of students testing the water.

But is one week sufficient time for a student to determine if they should commit to an 11-week course?

Work schedules change, class groups crumble, professors become infuriating—reasons abound for class schedules to come under fire after week one. And what about classes that only meet once a week?

Consider other Oregon University System schools: University of Oregon, Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon students also have one week to withdraw and receive full refunds.

However, each offer greater refunds through week two than PSU’s 70 percent (UO, 75 percent; SOU and EOU, 85 percent). Oregon State students have two weeks for full refunds. However, Western Oregon students have it the worst—they commit to partial pay before attending a single class.

The reduced-refund amounts should be the same statewide, and all OUS students deserve two weeks before committing to 11 weeks of class and homework, not to mention thousands of dollars in tuition, fees and books.
For now, drop any of those classes you are on the fence about and save money that would otherwise be lost to a strict policy unlikely to change anytime soon.