Dropped classes and frustration on tuition day
A student holds financial aid brochures outside the UNT financial aid office. Meagan Sullivan | Staff Photographer
Kelsey Medina | Senior Staff Writer
Wednesday was tuition day at UNT, and students had plenty of complaints.
Some didn’t receive their financial aid on time, forcing them to be dropped from classes, while others faced issues with paying online, landing them in long lines at the Eagle Student Services Center.
Biology junior Sarah Ibrahim walked into the ESSC to pay her tuition balances when she discovered a mistake on her account. She has worked as an Eagle Ambassador for the past three months at the front desk of the ESSC, but felt a change in the usual atmosphere as she waited to resolve her finances downstairs at the student accounting desk.
“It’s normally quiet and calm in here, but today it was rowdy,” Ibrahim said. “The lines were horrendous for student accounting and the cashiers.”
Despite the high volume of students, she was in line for 10 to 15 minutes before the problem was quickly fixed for her.
@ntdaily I’ve called the accounting office over 100 times today and got disconnected all but twice. Those two times sent me to voicemail
— Hannah Clark (@hannahliz11) August 13, 2015
I stopped a financial aid employee heading for the exit to ask her some questions. She said the offices at the ESSC are always busy around this time of year, and activity there will only continue after this weekend, when students move into residence halls.
@kelsmedsays @ntdaily well i was expecting to be able to accept my award package to pay for my tuition but it hasn’t shown up
— G9D (@TonyRomoDaGod) August 13, 2015
While we talked, another employee interrupted to ask her to retrieve any notes I had taken during the interview. I was asked to not use any of her quotes nor reveal her as a source.
Likewise, Student Accounting Services employees declined to comment, stating they were not permitted to answer any questions at the time.
Editor’s Note: This is a routine practice for front-desk employees at UNT. Supervisors generally encourage lower-level employees to not speak about goings-on within their respective departments.
Tomorrow we’ll be posting more tuition coverage, with word from UNT officials on common complaints, as well as what went right with tuition payments.
Featured Image: A student holds financial aid brochures outside the UNT financial aid office. Meagan Sullivan | Staff Photographer
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