Does this make sense to you?

[Ava]

Because it doesn't make any sense to me and I'll be grateful if someone can explain.

So I enrolled in the two undergraduate classes I need to be allowed to sit for the CPA exam for Florida state.

Then I went online and looked at the bill. It was very high. So I checked in-state part-time undergraduate tuition and, alas, it was $800 less than what they billed me for.

I've been charged part-time graduate student rates.

This morning I emailed the bursar's office pointing out the discrepancy.

Their answer; "Your bill is not based on the classes you are taking, it is based on your level of education. Once you got your bachelor, you will always be a graduate student."

This is the school where I got my MBA this past May. I mean; it's convenient that they have all my data and I don't have to register or apply. The school is relatively close to the location where my workplace is moving to next month. I needed a waiver to enroll in those two classes and the faculty members helped me out right away, and I am thankful for that.

But that bill stinks. And $800 is quite a bit of money in my world. Is this standard procedure? It sounds wrong and unfair to me.

[Deleted]

Wasn't your masters program at the graduate student rates?

DD's post baccalaureate program was undergraduate rates, but that may be unique to the College of Education since you can track to post bac or masters. As soon as she applies in the Masters program, she will be graduate rates.

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 21:42:09 GMT -5 @rockit said:

Wasn't your masters program at the graduate student rates?

DD's post baccalaureate program was undergraduate rates, but that may be unique to the College of Education since you can track to post bac or masters. As soon as she applies in the Masters program, she will be graduate rates.

I was charged graduate tuition through my MBA Program.

I am also wondering if the "forever graduate student" charges apply only to this school or if I would have to pay graduate tuition everywhere else. I'm sticking by this school, anyway. Like I said, it's convenient and I know the ropes.

It just looks like an unexpected rip-off to me.

[haapai]

Sure, I'll explain.  You are being squeezed. 

I don't think that it's particularly right fair.  The fact that you will be charged grad rates may be disclosed somewhere in the schedule of fees but it's quite likely that other CPA candidates with bachelors' and grad degrees from other institutions are able to avoid the surcharge. 

About the only think that I can say to cheer you up a bit is that this irritation is pretty minor compared to governmental and not-for-profit accounting, which is probably one of the classes that you will be taking.  Don't let the small number of credits associated with the course mislead you, it's an awful course.  You'll probably memorize it instead or learning it, since most people can't find a whole lot of internal logic to the subject. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Hmmm...I've never taken an undergrad class since I've gotten my master's. I've not come across that policy before.

I'm sorry. If that's the case, they should have made that clear to you when you signed up. If that's their policy though, I don't know how you'd fight it. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jun 17, 2015 21:49:03 GMT -5 haapai said:

About the only think that I can say to cheer you up a bit is that this irritation is pretty minor compared to governmental and not-for-profit accounting, which is probably one of the classes that you will be taking.  Don't let the small number of credits associated with the course mislead you, it's an awful course.  You'll probably memorize it instead or learning it, since most people can't find a whole lot of internal logic to the subject. 

Seriously, that' s the truth. In DH's business office, they hired a person great at payroll and accounts payable. She worked there six months and gave notice to go back to her previous private sector job. The cushiness of the government job was not worth the craziness of the government's method of accounting to her. 

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 21:49:03 GMT -5 haapai said:

Sure, I'll explain.  You are being squeezed. 

I don't think that it's particularly right fair.  The fact that you will be charged grad rates may be disclosed somewhere in the schedule of fees but it's quite likely that other CPA candidates with bachelors' and grad degrees from other institutions are able to avoid the surcharge. 

About the only think that I can say to cheer you up a bit is that this irritation is pretty minor compared to governmental and not-for-profit accounting, which is probably one of the classes that you will be taking.  Don't let the small number of credits associated with the course mislead you, it's an awful course.  You'll probably memorize it instead or learning it, since most people can't find a whole lot of internal logic to the subject. 

governmental and not-for-profit accounting, which is probably one of the classes that you will be taking.

I already took that one; it was like stepping into Alice in Wonderland.

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 21:49:55 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Hmmm...I've never taken an undergrad class since I've gotten my master's. I've not come across that policy before.

I'm sorry. If that's the case, they should have made that clear to you when you signed up. If that's their policy though, I don't know how you'd fight it. 

I enrolled online so I didn't have to read or sign anything.

I am pretty sure that if I took those classes at another school I've been charged undergraduate tuition.

Sure, go ahead and make money off me, dear school. I'm just a recent graduate who received her MBA last month, is still working her same old job, and has student loans.

And I'm sure that as an Alumni, I will start receiving donations requests from them pretty soon. Good luck with that.

[haapai]

What's left that wouldn't be in the undergraduate business core or the MBA?  Auditing? 

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 21:49:55 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Hmmm...I've never taken an undergrad class since I've gotten my master's. I've not come across that policy before.

I'm sorry. If that's the case, they should have made that clear to you when you signed up. If that's their policy though, I don't know how you'd fight it. 

Sorry, double post.

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 21:58:30 GMT -5 haapai said:

What's left that wouldn't be in the undergraduate business core or the MBA?  Auditing? 

No, I took that one, too.

What's missing is Accounting Information Systems, which actually sounds pretty interesting, and Business Law.

I already took Business Law I and Business Law II, but they were both at the Community College.

The Florida guys helpfully pointed out that at least one of the Business Law courses has to be at the upper level.

[haapai]

AIS can be pretty interesting if you can make the switch from Excel to Access.  The students that did well when I took it were the ones that bought Access for Dummies or something similar even though it wasn't one of the required texts.  I didn't get that memo and struggled for long enough that my grade in AIS was the lowest that I received in my major.  It can be tricky and the material that you need to grok may not be in the texts that you buy.  In other words, go to every class and do not let yourself fall behind.

I thought that business law was a breeze once I got past a little hiccup regarding jurisdiction.  I'm sure that you will do fine in the course if you have taken something similar elsewhere.  On the other hand, the business law class that I took as an undergrad did a terrible job of preparing me for the business law section of the exam.  I think that you will figure out what I mean by this if you take even a cursory look at any type of CPA Exam prep material.  (I did no prep before taking the business law section of the exam for the first time and the next three hours were long and frustrating!)

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2015 21:58:33 GMT -5 Ava said:

Jun 17, 2015 21:49:55 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Hmmm...I've never taken an undergrad class since I've gotten my master's. I've not come across that policy before.

I'm sorry. If that's the case, they should have made that clear to you when you signed up. If that's their policy though, I don't know how you'd fight it. 

I enrolled online so I didn't have to read or sign anything.

I am pretty sure that if I took those classes at another school I've been charged undergraduate tuition.

Sure, go ahead and make money off me, dear school. I'm just a recent graduate who received her MBA last month, is still working her same old job, and has student loans.

And I'm sure that as an Alumni, I will start receiving donations requests from them pretty soon. Good luck with that.

Students applying that have received degrees from other institutions would have to fill out their existing degrees on the application, so wouldn't they be subject to the same rule?

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 22:19:51 GMT -5 haapai said:

AIS can be pretty interesting if you can make the switch from Excel to Access.  The students that did well when I took it were the ones that bought Access for Dummies or something similar even though it wasn't one of the required texts.  I didn't get that memo and struggled for long enough that my grade in AIS was the lowest that I received in my major.  It can be tricky and the material that you need to grok may not be in the texts that you buy.  In other words, go to every class and do not let yourself fall behind.

I thought that business law was a breeze once I got past a little hiccup regarding jurisdiction.  I'm sure that you will do fine in the course if you have taken something similar elsewhere.  On the other hand, the business law class that I took as an undergrad did a terrible job of preparing me for the business law section of the exam.  I think that you will figure out what I mean by this if you take even a cursory look at any type of CPA Exam prep material.  (I did no prep before taking the business law section of the exam for the first time and the next three hours were long and frustrating!)

Thanks for all the info! It will come in handy when I start that class.

[Ava]

Jun 17, 2015 22:23:54 GMT -5 @rockit said:

Jun 17, 2015 21:58:33 GMT -5 Ava said:

I enrolled online so I didn't have to read or sign anything.

I am pretty sure that if I took those classes at another school I've been charged undergraduate tuition.

Sure, go ahead and make money off me, dear school. I'm just a recent graduate who received her MBA last month, is still working her same old job, and has student loans.

And I'm sure that as an Alumni, I will start receiving donations requests from them pretty soon. Good luck with that.

Students applying that have received degrees from other institutions would have to fill out their existing degrees on the application, so wouldn't they be subject to the same rule?

Probably. I will like to know if this is the only school that does this, or is a general rule. I've never heard of something like this before.

[grumpyhermit]

I would push back on this. Regardless of your level, if you aren't earning graduate level credit, I can't see how they are billing at the grad rate. I would also insist that they show you the policy. It could be that your billing is linked to your level but can be overridden, and the person you spoke to just didnt know what they were talking about. If it is actually their policy, it is not standard from any schools I know. Tuition is usually tied to the course level, not the student's.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using proboards

[Deleted]

Is this really an undergraduate course, or is it one of those 400/500 level courses that can count either way?  If it can be counted as a graduate-level course, that might explain what's going on. 

[Deleted]

Jun 18, 2015 7:56:29 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Is this really an undergraduate course, or is it one of those 400/500 level courses that can count either way?  If it can be counted as a graduate-level course, that might explain what's going on. 

  What is class level #?

The couple of tuition estimators I went on all asked student status: undergraduate, graduate, doctorate. So it must not be just ava's school that sets tuition by student degree status. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jun 18, 2015 8:12:17 GMT -5 @rockit said:

Jun 18, 2015 7:56:29 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Is this really an undergraduate course, or is it one of those 400/500 level courses that can count either way?  If it can be counted as a graduate-level course, that might explain what's going on. 

  What is class level #?

The couple of tuition estimators I went on all asked student status: undergraduate, graduate, doctorate. So it must not be just ava's school that sets tuition by student degree status. 

This is what I was wondering.

When I was an undergraduate, I took a few science classes that had graduate students in it.  If you took it as a graduate student, and paid for graduate hours, you got graduate credit.....which is more valuable in the long run.  Same class, same curriculum.  I do seem to remember the graduate students had a few more requirements though.

However, right now I am paying for undergrad hours for an AS......despite having a graduate degree.  Totally different curriculum.

[Deleted]

Jun 18, 2015 9:29:24 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Jun 18, 2015 8:12:17 GMT -5 @rockit said:

  What is class level #?

The couple of tuition estimators I went on all asked student status: undergraduate, graduate, doctorate. So it must not be just ava's school that sets tuition by student degree status. 

This is what I was wondering.

When I was an undergraduate, I took a few science classes that had graduate students in it.  If you took it as a graduate student, and paid for graduate hours, you got graduate credit.....which is more valuable in the long run.  Same class, same curriculum.  I do seem to remember the graduate students had a few more requirements though.

However, right now I am paying for undergrad hours for an AS......despite having a graduate degree.  Totally different curriculum.

I did as well.  As a graduate student, I had to do a paper in addition to a presentation.  If they were also doing a paper, mine had to be a longer paper (20 pages).

[Plain Old Petunia]

Jun 17, 2015 21:34:46 GMT -5 Ava said:

But that bill stinks. And $800 is quite a bit of money in my world. Is this standard procedure? It sounds wrong and unfair to me.

That is how it works here in California in the CSU system.    The money the college receives from the state for your attendance (which supplements what you pay yourself) is based on the student's level of education, not the class.

[Works4me]

Unless you lied and stated that you did not have your BA and MBA, you would be paying graduate tuition rates no matter where you took classes.

Your rate is determined by your level of education, not the level of the class you are taking.

ETA - no, it does not make sense but then again, very little regarding modern education does.

[Ava]

Jun 18, 2015 7:56:29 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Is this really an undergraduate course, or is it one of those 400/500 level courses that can count either way?  If it can be counted as a graduate-level course, that might explain what's going on. 

They are both 300 level courses.

[Ava]

Jun 18, 2015 20:16:42 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Unless you lied and stated that you did not have your BA and MBA, you would be paying graduate tuition rates no matter where you took classes.

Your rate is determined by your level of education, not the level of the class you are taking.

ETA - no, it does not make sense but then again, very little regarding modern education does.

Oh, I see. So this is normal procedure?

And I agree with you; there are many elements of modern education that make no sense.

I'm still glad I got into those two classes. I need them. This is a state school and, even with the rip-off, tuition is less than at any private university. I am already in the system so they have all my data. The location is convenient.

So, all in all, a good deal. It's just that this tactic of charging graduate tuition for undergraduate classes left a sour taste in my mouth.

[quince]

This seems normal. There are also schools that have different rates for what year of undergraduate education you are in. Not class dependent-dependent upon your education.

[wvugurl26]

When I went back for a masters in accounting, I had a semester's worth of classes I still needed since my bachelor's was in finance. My loans were at the higher interest rate because I was considered second degree/masters. I was not charged graduate tuition though for those five classes.

I took two classes at the 200-400 level after earning my masters and paid the lower rate. Both were at different schools than where I got my degree. UMUC was getting out of state rates to the tune of $1600 for a 400 level business ethics course though. Luckily work paid that bill.

[garion2003]

Jun 18, 2015 7:52:41 GMT -5 grumpyhermit said:

I would push back on this. Regardless of your level, if you aren't earning graduate level credit, I can't see how they are billing at the grad rate. I would also insist that they show you the policy. It could be that your billing is linked to your level but can be overridden, and the person you spoke to just didnt know what they were talking about. If it is actually their policy, it is not standard from any schools I know. Tuition is usually tied to the course level, not the student's.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using proboards

totally agree. how can they charge you the graduate rate when you aren't earning graduate credit?