The Tennessee Board of Regents threw the cap off of tuition this year.Due to the decline of financial support the university receives from the state, students are now responsible for funding a greater percentage of college tuition, said Bursar Lois Sams, from the office of Financial Services.

“Allocations of tax dollars to public universities pay part of the cost of educating each college student,” Sams said. “In 1998-99, state allocations paid for 60 percent of the cost of a student’s education; in 2008-09, the state paid only 44 percent.”

The state’s contribution to ETSU dropped 15 percent in the last year, leaving students with higher education costs to pay for in the 2009-10 semesters, she said.

The board voted to remove the cap in December 2008, Sams said. This was a decision made after eight to 10 years of debate over what to do in response to the changing economy. The question now is how this adjustment will affect the university and its students.

“The new tuition structure will help ETSU better manage course enrollment, and it will also benefit students,” Sams said. “It encourages students to succeed in every course in which they enroll.”

ETSU now charges tuition for every credit hour that a student signs up for, Sams said. Undergraduate students pay $191 per credit for the first 12 credits. Students who enroll in more than 12 credits will be charged $10 for every additional unit.

The new fee adjustment plan will motivate students to stay in the classes they pick, Sams said. That is because the refund periods now affect the amount of money students will get back if they drop classes.

“If a student drops three credits during a refund period, the maintenance fee or other course related fees are adjusted,” Sams said.

But if the drop occurs during the 75 percent adjustment period, for example, the student will not get the full refund of their tuition costs back, she said. Instead, only a portion of what they paid will be returned to them.

If the plan works and students are discouraged from dropping classes, the university will benefit as well, Sams said.

“Students who enrolled in courses, then dropped them, took seats other students might have needed,” she said.

Sams is hopeful that the new fee adjustment will have a positive outcome for ETSU, and a positive effect on students.

“Research shows that the practice of dropping courses – even with the intention of re-taking them later – reduces the likelihood that a student will graduate from college,” Sams said.

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