After five years of the beloved NU Shuffle, I thought I had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Besides half-expecting a “you can’t graduate in May because” letter from the school, I thought I had surpassed all the piles of paperwork, red tape and general chaos that goes hand-in-hand with a Northeastern education. I was wrong.
One morning over coffee with a friend and fellow senior, I was told I should check out my latest tuition bill. She had come across some sort of fine print about a credit on her bill. After calling to inquire about it, my friend was told that she was indeed owed a credit for an overpayment of spring semester tuition — some sort of semester mix-up that applied to seniors.
Highly skeptical, but still curious about this potential tuition credit, I called the Customer Service Center and, after an amazingly short on-hold period, found myself speaking to an actual person. After giving my ID number, four-digit pin, confirming my mailing address and every other identifying piece of information that Northeastern uses to classify its students, I was told that, yes, I did have a $2,025 credit coming my way.
The reason? Way back when the semester conversion details were being worked out, it was decided that because graduation requirements for the class of 2004 would be lessened thanks to the conversion; no senior would have to be responsible for paying for classes they didn’t need. Specifically, because I only needed three classes this semester in order to graduate, NU is going to charge me per credit hour, as opposed to the flat tuition rate that’s normally charged. The philosophy being that because of the conversion, I only needed three classes this semester, so NU decided to be kind and only charge me for what I needed to graduate. Very nice, yes, but in typical Northeastern administration fashion, this generous financial gesture backfired. Why did I have to call to ask for the credit? Why is it up to me to chase money I should have never been charged?
Incredulous, I asked the customer service representative why I hadn’t been properly informed of this credit — why didn’t I receive some letter, or better yet an actual check for the credit? Why was the credit information printed in fine print on the bottom of my tuition bill? According to the woman I spoke with, it would require too much manpower to contact all of the seniors who were eligible for this credit.
Excuse me?
Are they trying to say that it would be too difficult to figure out the number of seniors who are taking three or less classes, and then send out a general letter saying, please contact customer service, you might have some money coming your way? I find that very hard to believe. We all know if a student owes this fine institution any amount of money, that student will receive letter upon letter, demanding the money owed. If I owed NU a single penny, I’m sure I would have some sort of block that would prevent me from graduating on May 1. But Northeastern is content to sit on over $2,000 they owe me until I come around asking for it.
To be fair, I must say that I did call Customer Service, and spoke to the director, David Winch. He was very nice and explained the whole credit process to me. Apparently, for most underclassmen, whenever a credit is issued, it stays in the student’s account and will most likely be used towards another tuition payment, a meal plan, or some other future charge. For seniors, the credit stays in the account just in case it needs to be used for something else, however if the student graduates without ever using the credit, eventually they will be mailed a check for it. As much as I’d like to give NU the benefit of the doubt, I have a hard time believing Northeastern would track me down to give me my money back. After all, that sounds like another “manpower” issue.
But maybe that’s just me being jaded and resentful. Not to mention, why should we have to wait until months after we graduate before receiving that money? After hearing my story, a friend who graduated from NU last June told me she just received a credit a few months ago — a credit that she was never informed she had coming. What about those of us who need that money for rent or groceries, or would just like to have in the bank, earning interest?
I was told by Winch that the Bursar’s Office would be generating another round of statements this week, and those who have a credit will be able to read about it on their bill. Will it be in bold letters, in the middle of the bill? Or buried at the bottom, in fine print? I can only guess. In any event, seniors need to take note: If you took three classes this semester because you simply didn’t need or want a fourth one, you’re most likely entitled to a pretty hefty credit. So call customer service at 617-373-2270 and ask what you’re owed. The extra two grand might make those first few jobless months a little more bearable for you.
— Kate Pereira is a senior journalism major and a member of The News staff.
