CLAUDINE Campbell, a student at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), may not be able to begin what would be her final year of study in school.

The 22-year-old student said this is because of the newly implemented Enrolment Commitment Fee (ECF), which prevents students from registering for their courses unless a portion of the tuition fee is paid.

Under the ECF policy, returning students are expected to pay $50,000, while new and SLB-supported students will pay a non-refundable $20,000 before they are allowed to register for their courses.

“Now I don’t see why I should suffer because of my monetary constraints. I don’t have $50,000 to pay, and then even when I supposedly pay this $50,000 and I am late with my school fee, I then have to pay another $10,000 for late fee,” a seemingly frustrated Campbell exclaimed.

The university described the move as a mechanism to mitigate and prevent delinquency in paying tuition fees — an issue which has plagued the institution.

In a recent press release, the university maintained that the ECF is not an additional cost to students, but is intended to minimise the practice

of prospective students registering for courses that they do not complete payment and enrolment for. It is also intended to minimise the practice whereby some students are registered for classes without having paid the required fees.

“Normally, what would happen is that you would log on to the system in July and you would select your modules. A lot of students would sit in these places without paying any money and there are some students who have the money to pay, but they can’t get to because there are students occupying the spaces,” president of the Students Union, Darrian McGhann, told the Jamaica Observer.

According to the fee payment schedule posted on the school’s website, students are expected to pay all fees by August 31 to avoid being charged a facility fee of J$4,000. The schedule outlined that this fee would not be applicable to students approved by the Students’ Loan Bureau and scholarship holders.

It stated that students who have not completed payment before the August 31 deadline will automatically be placed on a part-payment plan. These students will be expected to complete payment by October 31 to avoid a second facility fee of $7,000.

“This is the first time I’m hearing of something like this ever from a university, and I just think it’s a complete load of rubbish. I understand that there are people that are going to take up space but they always say ‘first come first serve’, so you know you grab your spot while you can and you gradually start paying your school fee,” a frustrated Campbell told the Sunday Observer.

But Campbell isn’t the only student displeased with the university.

Asked of her opinion on the school’s ECF, Nikesha Miller, a 22-year-old UTech student said: “I think it’s absurd that the university would demand such an offer from us at such short notice.

“I think it would have been better if they had told us months in before about the ECF rates, rather than waiting to tell us when it was time to select our courses. If they had told us months before, we would have ample time to come up with monies needed to pay the enrolment fee,” she continued.

Like Miller, other students who aired their grouses on the school’s Facebook page said the institution should have announced the ECF earlier to allow students to prepare themselves financially.

One comment said: “I don’t have a problem paying the fee but the payment plan is dreadful. [It is] like UTech a use we fi pay back the debts. If we are struggling to enrol, how are we going to find extra money to pay them? If we pay the 100 per cent at the start of the semester, how are we going to get financial aid?”

In an attempt to address the issues with the ECF and get clarification, the school’s Students’ Union, the representative arm for the students, met with the university’s administration.

“We put several recommendations on the drawing board this morning (Thursday),” McGhann said. “What we asked the university to do is postpone the payment plan and allow the regular procedure to be executed,” he continued.

He said that though nothing was concretely finalised, the union asked the university to postpone the new fee until the next academic year “when they have looked into the whole matter because one of the things that they have failed to do is communicate this to the students in a timely manner.

“The other alternative was that if that wasn’t available to be met, we’ll ask the university to defer this until the second semester where they will be asked to pay a commitment fee of no more than $20,000, because, as it stands, first year students and new students have to pay the commitment fees because it is there in the handbook as well as published to them already,” McGhann stated.

The president said he also questioned the viability of the new financial plan in the meeting, highlighting that there were some uncertainties regarding the matter.

“There were some questions like one, how students who are doing less than nine credits will be accommodated. Because if you’re doing less than nine credits you can’t go on the system to select any modules you have to go by admissions to do that manually,” he said.

A fee payment plan published by the finance and business division on the school’s website outlined that students who fail to settle balances will be blocked from viewing their grades and enrolling in future semesters.

“I just think they have no regard for students at all: it’s all about making money. I think they probably sit in an office and think of new ways to try to get money from us which we don’t have. I mean, a majority of the students from UTech are being funded by student loan, so God bless us all,” Campbell stated.

Meanwhile, the university urged students to select only the number of courses that will allow them to meet the 65 per cent before August 21 when the enrolment period closes.

Agreeing with this plea, the union president said: “I think that students should pay or select what they can pay for. There are several who want to select seven modules when they can’t even pay for five. You get four years plus three years to complete your degree. Take the time, whatever spending power you have recognise that and acknowledge that.”

Classes at the university begin on August 24 for the 2015/2016 school year.