More than 260 LSU students have signed a Change.org petition requesting the university push back today’s spring semester registration deadline until well after final examinations. LSU’s final exams go through Saturday.
The petition specifically asks LSU to move the deadline to Jan.10, the day before classes begin without charging late fees and requests that the university no longer schedule the deadline for the next semester’s payment until the current semester ends.
Shrey Dalal, an LSU petroleum engineering junior, created the petition on Tuesday, and it reached 200 signatures within the first 16 hours. Dalal, an out-of-state student, said he thought only 30 to 50 people might sign because of finals week.
He said he has heard from other students and parents through the petition’s website and said several have shared the link through social media.
“Some parents commented, saying, ‘This is really hard on us,’” Dalal said. “Some of them aren’t ready for it. Some of them don’t even know the fee bill is due [Thursday].”
LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said LSU updated the registration process a few years ago to provide more deadline flexibility beyond the due date in individual cases.
Ballard said LSU communicates with students through email and postcard after the due date.
“Students should communicate any hardships or issues they are having to the Bursar’s Office, and the university will work with them around the due date,” Ballard said.
“If students contact the Bursar’s Office, an extension may be provided. There is no reason that a student who wishes to attend LSU in the spring should be purged, as long as they communicate with us through the process.”
The LSU Office of the Bursar sent out a broadcast email in late November to notify students of the Dec. 8 deadline. If a student misses the deadline, they are assessed a $75 late fee.
Dalal said he called the Bursar’s office and was told he could pay by Jan. 8 and not have his schedule purged if he took the late fee. Dalal said the $75 fee roughly makes up 11 hours working in his on-campus job.
“This is not fair,” Dalal said. “What are [they] going to do with the money?”
The petition reads: “LSU has become one of the only schools out of the thousands, in this country to ask for tuition for the upcoming semester, before the preceding semester ends.”
Several universities in the Southeastern Conference do not have a deadline set during the previous semester.
LSU has the earliest deadline of all SEC schools, with Auburn University and the University of Alabama being close behind at Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, respectively. Only LSU and Auburn have deadlines while the current semester is ongoing. The requested deadline of Jan. 10 would be one of the latest in the conference.
A spring 2017 payment deadline for Mississippi State University was not listed on the school’s website, though it does allow a monthly payment plan.
LSU pushed back the fee bill deadline for the fall 2016 semester following the region’s historic flooding. The date was originally set for Aug. 4, but was delayed to Aug. 24. The university also has a deferment plan where students can defer half of their charges.
The petition said the deadline this semester hits students and parents harder than normal, as many are still recovering from the flood and worrying about the decrease in TOPS funding. The Louisiana State Legislature voted over the summer to front-load TOPS for the fall semester, leaving students with 48 percent of the original funding for the spring 2017 semester.
Due to a newly anticipated shortfall in the Tobacco Settlement revenue, the actual amount will be around 41.8 percent of the fully funded amount, according to the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance. TOPS was funded at just over 93 percent for the fall semester.
For a student receiving the highest level of TOPS, their award will shrink from $3,844.77 in fall 2016 to $1,726.96 for the spring.
Dalal said even without the stress from TOPS and the flood recovery, students are focusing on their fee bills rather than their tests.
“The main concern I have is that they’re doing this during finals week,” Dalal said. “I would rather be studying right now.”