On Nov. 8, a campus-wide email was sent by Paloma Arnold, assistant superintendent and vice president of student affairs, informing students that those who have not paid their tuition for various reasons will no longer be automatically dropped from courses.
In a prior email sent in the spring semester, Arnold explained that there have been ongoing challenges regarding the process of determining which students are eligible for Federal Student Aid. As a result, many students have faced difficulties as far as paying tuition.
“As you may already be aware, the US Department of Education has been working to improve and simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),” Arnold wrote in an email sent earlier this year. “Unfortunately, there have been many challenges and delays during the process, which means that colleges, including SBCC, do not yet have the information we need in order to determine students’ financial aid eligibility for the 2024-2025 academic year.”
With a lack of resources to determine financial aid, Arnold suspended the automatic drop due to tuition non-payment.
“We have the goal that this will provide students, who may benefit from additional time, with the opportunity to pay their enrollment fees when they have the resources to do so, ensuring that students remain enrolled in their classes rather than being dropped and having to re-enroll in alternative courses,” Arnold said in an email interview.
While the suspension of the automatic drop from courses may seem like an attempt to waive fees to make college affordable for all, it should be understood that the intention is not that.
“However, that consideration also needs to be balanced with the fact that suspending the drop for non-payment may increase our student accounts receivables, which is a challenge in difficult budgetary conditions. We are hoping to evaluate these two semesters to assess the benefits while also weighing any negative impacts,” Arnold continued.
As stated in the school-wide email, “If you do not pay your spring 2025 tuition and enrollment fees, it will result in a hold being placed on your student account for the summer and fall 2025 enrollment period and beyond, which will prevent you from adding classes or enrolling in a subsequent semester.”
For the spring 2025 semester, a CA resident and/or AB540 student will not be dropped for non-payment once registered for a class. Out-of-state students who pay nonresident tuition will not be dropped for nonpayment once registered for classes as well. F1 Visa and/or another international student will, however, still be subject to the 7-day drop for non-payment policy.
Arnold encourages students struggling with their enrollment fees to look into resources at City College, including payment plans and financial aid.
Director of Admissions and Records Angelica Contreras had no comment regarding the email at this time.
Correction: Dec. 3 2024
An earlier version of this story misstated that Arnold suspended the automatic drop-fail. Arnold suspended the automatic drop, not “drop-fail.” The Channels recognized this error and corrected it.
