Crappy stuff for SSHE students in PA (Clarion, Bloomsburg, etc)
 

The new chancellor wants to reduce the number of credits you can take without paying extra from 18 to 16.

Which is really stupid since most classes are 3 credit. Not to mention how much it will screw people trying to do double majors or get out of school sooner, or actually on time.

Discuss...

http://www.post-gazette.com/localnew...onlocal4p4.asp

:mad:

I'm actually a Lock Haven student (one of the schools that would be affected, because we're at capacity!) I'm graduating next semester (May 15, 2004--to be exact!) and Chancellor Hample is not well liked among the students of the SSHE.

Sounds like a bad idea. Don't let it happen without making your opposition known. How about writing or emailing the governor, your PA state senator and your representative in the PA house? You can locate them at

http://www.legis.state.pa.us

Be sure the letter or email is polite, professional, and spell-checked and grammar-checked :).

Encourage your sisters, family and friends to do the same.

If the SSHE has a board of trustees or similar kind of organization, courteous letters or emails of opposition should also go to at least the chair or chief executive of that board, too.

Good luck! I know I'm suggesting some work that's semi-drudgery, but it's important to let your views be known to people in the political and quasi-political arena who can do something about the proposal.

Im confused, but maybe someone can explain this to me... When you pay tuition, do you not pay per credit? I mean like at my school it is about $100 per credit, if you take 9 its 900 and if you take 18 it is 1800...?

No, if you're a full-time student you pay a set fee and take between 12 & 18 credits. (Kate, if that's wrong please correct me) The only time you pay per credit is if you're a part-time student or in summer school. If you take over 18 you have to pay an additional fee.

exlurker - do you think it's a coincidence that this came out over winter break?? grrrr, I'm an old alum who won't be affected in the least by this, and it still ticks me off.

FAUNikki, welcome to the mindwarping world of college costs! Your system, a set dollar amount per credit, is probably the most usual. But some schools or university systems -- and not just in Pennsylvania -- have gone to a different way of pricing. They may charge, say $100 per credit up to a maximum of, say $1500 a semester -- then there is NO addiional charge for taking more credits in that semester. One of the ideas behind this is to encourage students to take enough courses to graduate in a reasonable amount of time without going deeper and deeper into debt.

There are variations on this concept, but the goal is usually to "reward" students for really making progress to their degrees. And of course there's the school image factor: a higher percentage of students graduating "on time" makes the school look better in some of the national rankings (like U.S. News and World Report's, where they look at graduation in SIX years or less.)

33girl, oh yes, of course I think it was just a coincidence. I'm sure that the SSHE administrators just came to the decision and announced it ASAP without thinking about the timing. That's how things work here in Happy Bunny Land, anyway, where peppermint candy grows on trees, everybody gets a new Lexus every week, the days are always sunshiny, and Mister Moon has a great big smile for us every night. Things might be different in Pennsylvania, I suppose, but I prefer not to think about that . . . .

Sheila,
The way that you explained it is exactly right! :) Gov. Rendell and Chancellor Hample have something up their sleeves!

I think reducing the credit limit is unfounded. First, the state wants to increase taxes because of public school education, but when it comes to their own state system universities, they want to cut back on their students. Granted, it deals with money, students would pay the same tuition amount for less credits. It's no wonder there is a brain drain in PA. If college students are treated unfairly while they are receiving their higher education, why should they stick around to see what's next? :(

*Happy to be a graduate come May 8.

For PrincessPhiSig, 33girl and other SSHErs:

The link below is a link to a Post-Gazette article. The article states that they are putting the fee for taking over 16 credits "on hold" until they can study it further. LOL!

Here it is:
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnew...tion0107p4.asp

Yeah I saw that. Silly old bimbo. :p

Question - have any of you ever heard of anyone actually doing what she is saying? I mean, doesn't your advisor still have to sign off on what you are taking and say "hey numnuts, you might want to not schedule 18 credits since you drop classes every semester."

I haven't actually seen this personally. But, I know that it happened. At LHU, the adviser doesn't need to sign off if you are 18 credits; its needed only for 21 credits. Alas, you also have to have a 3.0 to do this....