[rant]Contact Hour Billing

[Lady Vashj]

This is what the college has to say:

New Student Billing System Begins Fall Semester, 2004

The method used to calculate the cost of studying at Lansing Community College is being revised. Changes begin with the Fall Semester, 2004.

Under the new system, the cost for attending a course will be determined by the course’s billing hours, instead of credit hours. A billing hour represents an amount of time that a student spends in direct contact with an instructor or with laboratory equipment. Several factors are considered in determining the billing hours of a course. The main factor is the number of hours the student is expected to either be in class or in another “instructional” setting (such as a lab) in a typical week for a full semester course.

LCC courses range from one billing hour to over ten billing hours per course. The new billing system will cap the number of billing hours that can be added to a course. The billing hours will be no more than the credit hours plus three. For example, the maximum number of billing hours for a 3 credit class is 6; the maximum number of billing hours for a 4 credit class is 7. For the majority of courses at LCC, the credit hours and the billing hours are the same.

Starting Fall Semester 2004, the schedule book will include both a credit hour number and a billing hour number for every LCC course.

Why are we doing this?
Charging by billing hours more fairly distributes the cost of instruction to those students who receive extra instruction. Students will now pay a more equitable amount for the instruction time they receive. Based on this system, only students who are the recipients of additional instruction will pay for additional billing hours.

Equaling most of the student body.

Will the college help pay for increases in educational costs this may cause for some students?
The college offers a variety of ways in which students can pay tuition, including grants, scholarships and payment plans. Contact the Financial Aid Office in Enrollment Services – they can help!

They had this all already. The college isn't coming up with any more money. You notice they didn't really answer the question - no.

Will course fees be reduced?
Course fees have been reduced in some courses because of this change.

I think I would rather shell out thirty bucks course fee than three hours' tuition I get no credit for.

How many courses does this effect?
Of our approximately 1750 courses, about 750 of them have more billing hours than credit hours.

Problem is, those 750 are 90+% required for an associate's or transfer degree in anything useful. Science, premed, mechanics, computer tech, even music - tuition is double or triple what it used to be, and it's double or triple what it used to be for the biggest degree programs here.

Why don’t we just make the credits equal the contact hours?
It is important that the credit hours we offer are consistent with the credits other institutions will accept when students transfer.

They're not already. That's no excuse.

What is the effect on independent study courses?
For internships, co-ops and independent studies, billing hours equal credit hours.

Relieving a minority.

How does this affect on-line and hybrid courses?
If different sections of a course use different delivery options (face-to-face, on-line, hybrid), the billing hours and credit hours will be the same for all options. If, for example, the face-to-face section is 3 credit hours and 4 billing hours, the on-line and hybrid sections will be 3 credit hours and 4 billing hours.

So you can get charged for contact you don't make.

Will this affect enrollment status and financial aid?
As required by federal and state regulations, enrollment status (full time student, half time student, etc.) will continue to be determined by credit hours, not billing hours. For example, if a student is enrolled in courses totaling 8 credit hours and 12 billing hours, they will be considered a ½ time student for the purposes of financial aid.

So even though you're shelling out hundreds of dollars more, you still get the same amount of money. The hundreds of extra dollars all comes from your pocket - and most people receiving financial aid here don't have a whole lot in their pockets.

And the best part is, it's not a tuition increase.