ASU Graduate College Update

Earlier this summer I posted an account of some recent experiences my family had encountered concerning ASU’s graduate programs. As you might recall, I was pleasantly surprised when Michael Crow responded to my requests and posted on that development. However, I am sorry to report there is much more to this story since July 07 as illustrated below.

Let’s begin with the good news.

I did get to have a nice chat with a woman in ASU’s graduate office about my initial concerns. She listened carefully to my frustrations and said that my complaints would be addressed in future discussions within the university. I thought that would be that, and I’d move on from the recent negative experiences I had.

But that wasn’t the case.

The first incident I’ll call the Readmission Follies.

As previously posted, I needed to pay a $50 fee to continue taking classes at ASU. I had already e-mailed numerous CoE staff over the summer trying to find out what classes were being offering in the fall since I had heard conflicting information about cohort programs and needed to make an informed decision before reregistering and paying the $50 fee. Due to events within the college of Education, students in the cohort graduate classes were not informed as to which classes were going to be offered for the Fall 2007 semester until Saturday, August 18th in an e-mail.

Upon viewing the courses I decided it would be worth it to pay the $50 reregistration fee and fill out a new application. I called up the graduate office to begin this process, and I was told the fee jumped up to $65.00 in the middle of July. So now I have to pay more money even though I couldn’t have made an educated decision earlier since the schedule came out so late. When I explained this to graduate admissions and the college of education I was told there was nothing they could do. I understand it’s just 15 extra bucks, but that’s not the point. I don’t feel like I should have had to pay anything in the first place, as stated in my previous post, and now this!

But that’s not all.

The second incident I’ll call the Residency Shenanigans.

After I was (surprise, surprise) readmitted into my program I was sent a “final notice” e-mail on August 29th by ASU’s registrar’s office. It stated:

Because you have not provided documentation to verify your lawful presence in the United States, the University Registrar’s Office has changed your residency status for tuition purposes to nonresident.


Whoa…slow down there.

1. When did I receive a first notice, let alone a final notice?
2. I attended ASU for undergraduate and just last fall as a graduate student. I have always been classified as a resident. Nothing has changed. I was born in Arizona and have always lived here. You can’t get much more native than that. How does ASU think I am now a nonresident?
3. The reapplication I filled out made me verify my driver’s license number, voter ID, length at current (Arizona) job, etc. These are all things that could and have been used in the past to verify my residency. Yet I have to jump through another hoop.

Even though I didn’t understand the need for this, I didn’t want to sit on this potential problem because the e-mail went on to say:

Your change in residency status is in effect for the fall 2007 semester and is reflected on your billing statement. If you have already paid your fall 2007 tuition you will be billed an additional amount to cover the non-resident portion of tuition.


When I called the ASU’s registrar office that same day I was told I needed to scan or mail a picture of my license. Since I didn’t have a scanner, I told the representative I would need to mail the proof. However, she then informed me that the license might not get to them before the residency change went into effect. Since I didn’t want to risk it and pay an additional $1263 - more than double my original tuition amount - I figured I better find a way to scan the license. In fact, I was so diligent I made sure to get it accomplished that evening, and ASU had it sitting in their inbox the next day when the office opened.

But we’re not through yet.

I received a follow up e-mail the next day saying I now needed to fill out a proof of residency form and get it signed. So, I had to go out of my way to call the registrar’s office again for the second time in two days and wait for fifteen minutes to be told that to fax this new documentation. The representative couldn’t tell me why I wasn’t told this the first time I called.

Now my only concern is that the residency department is able to figure out the e-mailed license and the faxed residency verification goes together since they were sent on separate days. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Update: I have been told the reason for the extensive verification process is due to Prop. 300 which passed in November 2006. This makes every student prove (and in my case reprove) that they are US citizens.

Then in September came more news.

I’ll call the third incident the Case of the Missing Funds.

I received yet another e-mail on September 4th, this time from accounts receivable at ASU, that I had not paid my tuition for this semester. That was odd for the following reasons:
1. I paid for my full tuition for the semester
2. ASU interactive showed I had no fees due
3. I had a receipt and confirmation number of when I paid for my tuition in August.
4. ASU had already deducted the fees from my bank account.

So I find myself yet again wasting more of my time to wait on hold for ten minutes about why I received this erroneous message. The woman on the other end had no idea why this happened. When I told her I would like some kind of confirmation verifying I would not be placed on the tuition installment plan, she was told she could provide nothing. In fact, she never once apologized for ASU’s mistake or my time. In fact, she acted like I was a huge inconvenience in her day.

I never once had any issues like this for four years of undergraduate studies and a year as a graduate student. I don’t know why I have been having all these problems lately, but they certainly don’t reflect the image that ASU wants to be leaving with their current students or alumni.

My goal is that this open letter prompts an examination at the policies and service within the university. I fear too many working adult students don’t have the time or patience to put up with these kinds of problems, and with a competitive market to obtain higher education degrees, there are many other places students can and will choose to give their money and earn their diploma.

And for my own time and sanity, let’s hope this is my last negative run in with this re registration process.