Can they do this (dual enrollment/community college charge)?

[Kassia]

My daughter is doing dual enrollment at the community college.  When the semester started, her account showed a balance of zero and it showed that the DE program in our state had made a contract payment.  I contacted the bookstore during the first week of classes to ask if my daughter could get her access code (no textbook in this class) as a homeschooled DE student and they said she was "all set."  My daughter got her access code at no charge to us and her receipt says it was "Paid Via Financial Aid."  

 

Well, I just checked her student account to see if she had been correctly registered for a summer class she wants to take and there is a past due bill for the entire tuition for this semester plus the access code - almost $600 total!  How can they give me a service/product at no charge and then charge me for it when it's too late to do anything about it.  I can't do anything at all with the access code - I can't return it or resell it.  We wouldn't have even picked it up if we had known we'd be charged for it because my daughter suspected it wouldn't be used and it hasn't been.  

 

Here in Ohio, homeschoolers have limited funding for DE.  We were originally told we were allowed 6 credits for the year and then it was increased to 12.  My daughter had used up 11 credits by fall so we had expected to pay for spring anyway but, when I saw that the DE program in our state had made a payment, I assumed that they increased the allowed credits again - maybe to use up unused credits by other students.  In the fall semester, that money wasn't applied until well after classes started so I assumed that the money was ours if it had already been deposited in her account towards her class.  

 

At the very least, I want the college to write off the access code.  We wouldn't have gotten it had we known we would have to pay for it.  Getting that and taking the class weren't informed decisions since we were under the impression that there would be no charge to us.  

 

I've just never had the experience where I've received goods/services at no charge and then forced to pay later when it's too late to back out.  

 

 

[dancingmama]

Have you called and asked? It's probably a clerical error somewhere along the way.

[lanalouwho]

Do you still have the receipt that says it was paid?

 

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[Kassia]

Have you called and asked? It's probably a clerical error somewhere along the way.

 

I called and was told that we weren't approved for the funds so they were removed and that I should have known that.  I just sent an email to the bursar.

[Kassia]

Do you still have the receipt that says it was paid?

 

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I have the bookstore receipt for the access code that says it was paid for via financial aid.  

[Catwoman]

I have the bookstore receipt for the access code that says it was paid for via financial aid.

I would consider that to be proof that you had no reason to believe you would be charged.

[Tap]

Our program doesn't pay for summer classes because there aren't summer high school classes then.

 

Do you live in an area with year round school?  

 

It sounds like you made some assumptions on where the extra funding was coming from, and you should have verified with someone. You knew something was amiss, but didn't check it out?  If you knew how many credits were approved, but she went over that for this year, why would she enroll for a summer class?  I must be missing something.

 

Sorry, but you may just be out the money.   I don't think I would have paid for non-refundable summer book this early in the year. Too many things can happen between now and then.  

[TechWife]

I think the original error occurred when you assumed that the payment was done correctly, knowing that she was going over the allotted number of credits. That's when you should have contacted the powers that be. Since you anticipated paying for this semester anyway, I don't see a real problem. I am surprised that she wasn't droppped from classes for non payment, though. If she wants credit for the classes she is taking, I think you should pay the bill in full right away.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

My guess is that the school initially processed it not knowing how many credits she had already used. When the paper work went through and the credits were entered, it was discovered that she had used her allotment and the charge was applied. Since the program has a history of late payments, it probably wasn't caught until well after the non-payment drop date which is why she wasn't dropped early. I am surprised, though, that the school didn't send her a tuition statement or some type of notice.

 

Also, those access codes are only sold by the school as a convenience to the student. She just as easily could have bought it online through the publisher or another retailer. Once those codes are purchased there are no returns. She can still use it for the study guide, the online quizzes, and any other ancillary materials that are provided via the code.

 

I am sorry you are frustrated but I hope your DD does well in her classes.

[Beth S]

If you are still confused, I would make an appointment to meet face-to-face with the Financial Aid counselor.

[SparklyUnicorn]

sounds like an error

 

I can't tell you how many errors and issues we have had with courses at the local CC and another CC further away.  Errors with grades, payment, a course being advertised as on-line, but wasn't actually on-line.  All sorts of crud.

 

Geesh every time I go to the bookstore they insist I wait in this line to get into the store.  I tell them I am paying cash and they still insist.  So I get up to the front of the line and they scan my ID (or my son's ID) and say it's not showing financial aid.  YES I KNOW.  LOL  So they say oh you didn't have to wait in this line.  Yes, I know.  EVERY TIME this happens that I go there.

 

Bureaucracy....

[Annie G]

sounds like an error

 

I can't tell you how many errors and issues we have had with courses at the local CC and another CC further away.  Errors with grades, payment, a course being advertised as on-line, but wasn't actually on-line.  All sorts of crud.

 

Geesh every time I go to the bookstore they insist I wait in this line to get into the store.  I tell them I am paying cash and they still insist.  So I get up to the front of the line and they scan my ID (or my son's ID) and say it's not showing financial aid.  YES I KNOW.  LOL  So they say oh you didn't have to wait in this line.  Yes, I know.  EVERY TIME this happens that I go there.

 

Bureaucracy....

 

Oh my gosh this drives me crazy too. They have a little table that you have to check in at and they look to see if you have financial aid. I always told them we're self pay and they smugly told me they have to look because I might be wrong.  

 

Dd went into the bookstore last semester to buy something for her class (she was the ESL teacher) and they stopped her. She told them she's an instructor there and they didn't believe her.  Ok, so she's super young and all, but do people lie about that kind of thing just to be able to go into a college bookstore???? 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh my gosh this drives me crazy too. They have a little table that you have to check in at and they look to see if you have financial aid. I always told them we're self pay and they smugly told me they have to look because I might be wrong.  

 

Dd went into the bookstore last semester to buy something for her class (she was the ESL teacher) and they stopped her. She told them she's an instructor there and they didn't believe her.  Ok, so she's super young and all, but do people lie about that kind of thing just to be able to go into a college bookstore???? 

 

Yeah the bookstore is the most bizarre place. They basically insist on walking with you through the store.  You aren't allowed to just grab what you need.  Maybe that's their only anti theft precaution?  I really have no clue.  Where I went to school it was much much larger though so it would have really been stupid to do that.  I joke that the prices are so high they should offer me a personal shopping assistant while there.  LOL

[Annie G]

Yeah the bookstore is the most bizarre place. They basically insist on walking with you through the store.  You aren't allowed to just grab what you need.  Maybe that's their only anti theft precaution?  I really have no clue.  Where I went to school it was much much larger though so it would have really been stupid to do that.  I joke that the prices are so high they should offer me a personal shopping assistant while there.  LOL

 

One of our kids' first campus jobs was at this same bookstore- back in the day when you just walked in and thumbed through the books to choose which one you want. Now you can't even touch the books. They choose for you.  It's crazy. I've never seen that at any other school except this community college- not any of the four year schools our kids attended.  

 

You're right about the prices coming with a personal shopper- there's a reason we did most of the book buying online. But they played these games where they'd wait until the Friday before classes started to list the books needed and some instructors would 'give points' for bringing the books to class the first day. It all seems so juvenile for a college. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

One of our kids' first campus jobs was at this same bookstore- back in the day when you just walked in and thumbed through the books to choose which one you want. Now you can't even touch the books. They choose for you.  It's crazy. I've never seen that at any other school except this community college- not any of the four year schools our kids attended.  

 

You're right about the prices coming with a personal shopper- there's a reason we did most of the book buying online. But they played these games where they'd wait until the Friday before classes started to list the books needed and some instructors would 'give points' for bringing the books to class the first day. It all seems so juvenile for a college. 

 

I've gotten better deals elsewhere!  When possible I go that route,  But like you said sometimes the timing of that is just impossible.

 

Probably the best deal I got was I bought a book at the bookstore for $140 for my kid.  Then I took that class after and used it.  Then I got a $75 gift card from Amazon as a buyback.  That's kick @$$.

[Riverland]

Our state does not fund summer dual enrollment classes. They are self-pay. However, if a dual enrollment student registers for a summer class the system shows $0 balance. It's not until around the beginning of the session that you get a bill for it. The college says their computer system isn't smart enough to know that it needs to charge the student for summer classes....crazy.

 

You can't even pay for the class until the charge finally catches up to you. When the balance (erroneously) shows $0, it won't allow you to pay.

 

I'm sure many students and parents have been caught by surprise when a past due notice shows up in the mail.

[TechWife]

One of our kids' first campus jobs was at this same bookstore- back in the day when you just walked in and thumbed through the books to choose which one you want. Now you can't even touch the books. They choose for you.  It's crazy. I've never seen that at any other school except this community college- not any of the four year schools our kids attended.  

 

 

This is exactly how my son's university does it. It's a book rental program, though. You log into the bookstore site, see the books required and recommended for classes and confirm that you want to rent it or purchase it. If you are purchasing anything, you enter debit card information at checkout. Based on what you confirm, the bookstore pulls and boxes the books and when the student goes to the bookstore they are handed the box and sign on the dotted line. Students who don't confirm their books online have to go to a separate line where they have to first confirm their order then wait for it to be boxed and brought out. It's a much lengthier process so most people confirm online, at least after one semester waiting in that line. 

 

Consumables and computer program access codes are purchase only, but everything else can be rented. There is a $150 rental fee on each student's bill each semester that covers all rental books. There is no charge to the student for rental books at the time of pickup. 

[Annie G]

This is exactly how my son's university does it. It's a book rental program, though. You log into the bookstore site, see the books required and recommended for classes and confirm that you want to rent it or purchase it. If you are purchasing anything, you enter debit card information at checkout. Based on what you confirm, the bookstore pulls and boxes the books and when the student goes to the bookstore they are handed the box and sign on the dotted line. Students who don't confirm their books online have to go to a separate line where they have to first confirm their order then wait for it to be boxed and brought out. It's a much lengthier process so most people confirm online, at least after one semester waiting in that line. 

 

Consumables and computer program access codes are purchase only, but everything else can be rented. There is a $150 rental fee on each student's bill each semester that covers all rental books. There is no charge to the student for rental books at the time of pickup. 

That's a great system! I'd be totally fine with people picking my rental books but if I'm buying used books I want to pick my own thankyouverymuch.   

[shawthorne44]

I saw that, and I thought that was still crazy-talk.   $150 for rental books?   Regardless of how may you get?  What if you don't want to rent any books?   

 

But, I agree, if I'm buying used, I want to look at the book.   That was always one advantage to shopping early, you could pick out the best used books.  

 

A college bookstore is one of my happy places.   Starting when I was 9, I used to walk 3 miles to the major university bookstore.  I loved that place.   

 

[TechWife]

I saw that, and I thought that was still crazy-talk.   $150 for rental books?   Regardless of how may you get?  What if you don't want to rent any books?   

 

But, I agree, if I'm buying used, I want to look at the book.   That was always one advantage to shopping early, you could pick out the best used books.  

 

A college bookstore is one of my happy places.   Starting when I was 9, I used to walk 3 miles to the major university bookstore.  I loved that place.   

 

Nope - not crazy talk! It's an amazing program, honestly. This was the first university in our state to have a book rental program. No, there is not a limit on how many you get - as long as a professor has added the book to the list for the course, you get it. To my knowledge, students who don't rent any books don't receive a refund - it's just a fee that must be paid. DS has always had books to rent, though, so I don't know for sure! 

 

Oh - students who take online or hybrid courses (they don't have many of those) can pick their books up on campus or they can pay a shipping fee to have them sent to their home. 

 

There is a deadline by which the books have to be returned - I think it's within 72 hours of the last day of the semester. After that, the book purchase price is charged to the student account, which must be paid before the student can rent any more books. The purchase price is listed online when books are confirmed and on the receipt the students sign when they pick up the books, so they have been told! 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Nope - not crazy talk! It's an amazing program, honestly. This was the first university in our state to have a book rental program. No, there is not a limit on how many you get - as long as a professor has added the book to the list for the course, you get it. To my knowledge, students who don't rent any books don't receive a refund - it's just a fee that must be paid. DS has always had books to rent, though, so I don't know for sure! 

 

Oh - students who take online or hybrid courses (they don't have many of those) can pick their books up on campus or they can pay a shipping fee to have them sent to their home. 

 

There is a deadline by which the books have to be returned - I think it's within 72 hours of the last day of the semester. After that, the book purchase price is charged to the student account, which must be paid before the student can rent any more books. The purchase price is listed online when books are confirmed and on the receipt the students sign when they pick up the books, so they have been told! 

 

This is freaking awesome!

[KarenNC]

Nope - not crazy talk! It's an amazing program, honestly. This was the first university in our state to have a book rental program. No, there is not a limit on how many you get - as long as a professor has added the book to the list for the course, you get it. To my knowledge, students who don't rent any books don't receive a refund - it's just a fee that must be paid. DS has always had books to rent, though, so I don't know for sure! 

 

Oh - students who take online or hybrid courses (they don't have many of those) can pick their books up on campus or they can pay a shipping fee to have them sent to their home. 

 

There is a deadline by which the books have to be returned - I think it's within 72 hours of the last day of the semester. After that, the book purchase price is charged to the student account, which must be paid before the student can rent any more books. The purchase price is listed online when books are confirmed and on the receipt the students sign when they pick up the books, so they have been told! 

 

Yep, assuming I'm correct about the school you mean, it's one of the many reasons it's high on my daughter's list. In fact we're headed up for open house in a few weeks. I just saw an article that at least one other state school is working on using the Open Textbook Network to cut book fees.

 

Anyone know of a list of schools that use this sort of thing? It's definitely a plus.

[TechWife]

Yep, assuming I'm correct about the school you mean, it's one of the many reasons it's high on my daughter's list. In fact we're headed up for open house in a few weeks. I just saw an article that at least one other state school is working on using the Open Textbook Network to cut book fees.

 

Anyone know of a list of schools that use this sort of thing? It's definitely a plus.

 

Another tidbit - the few books he's had to purchase have been paperback books, not textbooks. There are one or two each semester, so we generally spend less than $30. The bookstore comes close to Amazon pricing, either slightly above or slightly below. The net price has always been in the bookstore's favor. 

[TechWife]

dp 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by TechWife

[Bootsie]

Another tidbit - the few books he's had to purchase have been paperback books, not textbooks. There are one or two each semester, so we generally spend less than $30. The bookstore comes close to Amazon pricing, either slightly above or slightly below. The net price has always been in the bookstore's favor. 

I just looked at the Open Textbook Network site.  There are no books in the library for courses that I teach, which are fairly traditional finance and economics courses.  What happens when students take classes in those areas?  Do they have to buy a textbook?  I would not want a rental fee for every student if the books offered were not fairly evenly distributed over areas of study.

[littlebug42]

The bookstore may have made an error in your favor that was corrected.  In Ohio for DE through the College Credit Plus program, homeschoolers and private school students are required to pay for their own books.  Those enrolled in public schools have theirs paid for by the school districts.  The person at the bookstore may have been confused.

 

You would have been notified if they had increased the alotted funding again.  You said that you anticipated that you would have to pay for spring.  Does your community college offer a decreased tuition rate for CCP students that go above their alottment?  Ours has a greatly reduced tuition rate for hours over and above what the state approved for your funding.  I would ask the reps at your college. 

[Kassia]

The bookstore may have made an error in your favor that was corrected.  In Ohio for DE through the College Credit Plus program, homeschoolers and private school students are required to pay for their own books.  Those enrolled in public schools have theirs paid for by the school districts.  The person at the bookstore may have been confused.

 

You would have been notified if they had increased the alotted funding again.  You said that you anticipated that you would have to pay for spring.  Does your community college offer a decreased tuition rate for CCP students that go above their alottment?  Ours has a greatly reduced tuition rate for hours over and above what the state approved for your funding.  I would ask the reps at your college. 

 

Our community college doesn't have discounted tuition rates (they used to and then they changed that during this school year sometime), but they do give free books to homeschooled CCP students when their hours are covered by the state.  So, lots of changes this year (our first year using CCP) - first our approved hours were increased, then the community college increased their rates.  Since it was the last semester of the school year and we still had one credit hour leftover from our funding, I assumed (incorrectly) that CCP allowed us to use an additional two credits since the payment showed up in my daughter's account for spring semester well before classes started.  

[shawthorne44]

This is something that I am going to file in the back of my brain as a warning.  

[TechWife]

I just looked at the Open Textbook Network site.  There are no books in the library for courses that I teach, which are fairly traditional finance and economics courses.  What happens when students take classes in those areas?  Do they have to buy a textbook?  I would not want a rental fee for every student if the books offered were not fairly evenly distributed over areas of study.

 

I don't know what Open Textbook Network is.

This is how it works at ds' university: 

 

Books departments pick for their courses are purchased or rented by the university bookstore and made available to students for rental.  The faculty is required to use the book rental system (if they use a textbook, it must be one the bookstore has available or can obtain for the rental program). Only one book per course is allowed on the book rental program. The decision to put a book on the rental program rests with the department, not the bookstore and departments establish their own procedures for selecting texts. If there is more than one section of a course, the department  decides whether or not there is more than one textbook available in the rental program for the faculty to choose from. Once a textbook is chosen, it must remain in use for two consecutive years and be used in at least four times in that two year period (two times for courses that are only offered once per year). If the department knows that the book will not be used for two years (an annual publication or a seminar that is only offered occasionally, for example), then then book is available to students for purchase only. Faculty must notify the bookstore of any supplemental books that will be needed every semester - the bookstore doesn't automatically restock these books. Supplemental books (novels, journals, etc.) are available for purchase only. If a department adds or deletes a section or increases the enrollment cap for a section, the department must notify the bookstore so the appropriate number of books will be in stock. 

 

Departments are encouraged to consider cost of the text, but there is no maximum amount so they can pick the text most suitable to the department and student needs. They can choose hardback or paperback editions.  They are allowed to use alternative texts (such as open source materials), but are not required to do so. A new edition of a book does not justify changing the book used for a course. If, for some reason, a book becomes unsatisfactory for the course during the two year rental cycle, then the department can request a new one. 

 

Undergraduate students will be expected to purchase supplemental books, consumables and computer codes that are not bundled with the textbook. Graduate students and extension course students should expect to purchase most, if not all, of their books (lower enrollment and the variance in course offerings semester to semester means it isn't cost effective for most of those textbooks to be in the rental program). 

 

So, basically, the bookstore offers what the departments tell it to offer. The situation you are describing would not occur because the department, through it's own procedure, has already selected the books and the bookstore has stocked them. 

[Mom22ns]

To the OP, you said the code wasn't used. Did she open it? Unopened codes can be resold or returned.

[Kassia]

To the OP, you said the code wasn't used. Did she open it? Unopened codes can be resold or returned.

 

Yes, she did open it when she got it to make sure it worked.  :(

[shawthorne44]

...Graduate students and extension course students should expect to purchase most, if not all, of their books (lower enrollment and the variance in course offerings semester to semester means it isn't cost effective for most of those textbooks to be in the rental program). 

...

 

Are they required to pay the rental fee?  

[teachermom2834]

The four year university my ds enrolls at just charges fees for any digital books/codes on the tuition bill. I do not think they are optional.I can see that sort of mixup happening with our state dual enrollment grant but I would expect the error to come to light and I would expect to be responsible for the fees.

 

Sorry.

[Bootsie]

At most universities, the bookstore is not university-owned but is a separate business (Follett, Barnes & Noble, etc.)  They will usually have some type of relationship with the university so that financial aid can be used to purchase books.  Unfortunately financial aid is not always clearly known at the beginning of the semester.  A student may be awarded financial aid and then drop all classes a week into the semester; in that case, some financial aid must be returned.  In that case, a student may have had financial aid that made a book free but then ends up owing for the book.  I know this isn't what happened in your case; it is just one of the situations the book store can find itself in, the financial aid-student balances are often fluid.  If you have payment for DE thrown in too, I can't imagine the messes that may occur.

[TechWife]

Are they required to pay the rental fee?  

 

I don't know.