Can a college force me to pay tuition for courses I didn't take?

Question

I couldn't afford the tuition in my college so I stop taking courses and notity the college. Now they want to charge me with the full tuition for the year saying that it says so in the handbook they first gave me. Can they do that?

I mean I didn't take half of the courses this year and I let them know I couldn't afford it, and that I would need to take a year off.

Answer 1

at nearly every school i've worked at, your liability is as follows. after the first week, your are liable for 25% of the tuition. 2nd week is 50%, 3rd week is 75% and fourth week or later, you are liable for 100% of the tuition.

Answer 2

As with most things in life, ignorance of the law (or the rules/regulations) is not a defense. It was your responsibility to be aware of all your school's policies, particularly when it comes to something as weighty as your tuition refunds and financial aid. If the school had a written refund policy in the student handbook, then, yes, they have every right to enforce it. Just because you didn't read the policy doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

There are a number of logical reasons why a student might be charged for a whole enrollment period even if they withdrew (or dropped out) mid-year... If you go to a restaurant and eat half a hamburger, don't you get charged for the whole thing? Of course: they can't resell the burger. Similar to this, when you began classes, chances are that you were occupying a seat that they *could* have offered to another student; once classes began, this was probably not money that they could recoup.

Moreover, many schools have quotas -- i.e. a number of seats that must be filled in a classroom before the class can be offered. If your teacher was paid based on your attendance in a class and you later withdrew, the teacher may still need to be paid for the seat that you used to fill.

This is a cost that you committed to, so you need to follow through. Don't expect much flexibility there.

Answer 3

I would say no especially if you notified them before the courses started. But if you did not tell them until the class started or part way through then yes they have the right to charge you. I would say get your handbook and read through it, if you followed procedures then talk to a lawyer. If you find a good lawyer he will give advice and not charge unless you need to use him. I had an issue similar to this before not with college though. I had closed a cell phone account and they still wanted to charge me cancellation fees because I closed on the last day of the two years, but when I talked to a person they never told me I just happened to get a bill. In the end I had to pay nothing which I was glad of. Good Luck to you.

Answer 4

sure they can. There is a cutoff date when you are on the hook for the full price of the class even if you drop it. Check the manual or handbook they gave you when you registered. I know the place I went to it was within the first few weeks of the class. No where near the half way mark.

Answer 5

Check out your handbook. It is possible, although I can't imagine that in the summer you would have to. Usually schools have refund dates. If you drop classes up until the day a class starts you usually get a refund, then after that you have to pay some of the money but it isn't until several weeks in (ususally) that you lose all of the money. However, if you didn't make the payment for the classes then they will just drop you out of the classes, or deregister you.

Call your school again to find out for sure what is going on.
Good luck!

Answer 6

there is usually a sliding scale. like if you drop classes the first week, there is no tuition. if you drop by a certain time you have to pay half and if you wait till past that time, you have to pay the full tuition even if you do not complete the course.

Answer 7

If you didnot drop the course yes they can because a spot was held for you and no other student could take that spot.

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Answer 8

Show them the paperwork that showed when you dropped the class. It is possible that its just a clerical error. If you don't have the paperwork you may be pooched.

Answer 9

Did you officially drop? Did you do it before the financial penalty date? If can not say know to both of these, then they can.

Answer 10

You have to review your college's withdrawal policy. It varies from college to college. If you missed the withdrawal date, you are out of luck..