The University of Akron will repay $4.1 million in fees to students after the state determined that the school improperly raised its facilities fee last year.
The school announced the refund in a news release issued Wednesday morning.
UA had bumped the fee from $18.55 per credit hour to $28.50 per credit hour as a way to increase its revenue and address a “$60 million financial problem.”
But the state says the facilities fee qualifies as a general fee, and state leaders last year froze tuition and general fees at public universities as part of the state’s biennial budget. The university approved its spending plan before the state budget was passed.
Jeff Robinson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Higher Education, said the issue “was discovered as part of an annual tuition and fee reporting process” by the state.
The school then was informed of the problem.
The university didn’t realize the facilities fee qualified as a general fee, he said.
Robinson said he knew of no other public university facing the same issue this year.
UA had the option of complying with the state freeze or not, he said.
“We appreciate the University of Akron’s cooperation on this matter,” Robinson said.
The school will refund the increase from the last two semesters to all affected students before the end of this semester.
UA spokesman Wayne Hill said the university hasn’t determined yet where it will get the money for the fee reimbursements.
“We have the obligation to repay it and we’ll find a way to do that in the process of developing a budget for the upcoming fiscal year,” he said.
The new fiscal year begins July 1.
Amounts will vary depending on the number of credit hours taken. The maximum refund will be $238.80 per student, the school said.
“It’s nice that they are paying us back, but it would have been nice to not have had to pay it in the first place,” said Leianna Massie, 20, a junior at UA majoring in dietetics and nutrition.
“I’ll just use the refund for books or tuition. It’ll all go back to the university anyway. It won’t go toward anything fun.”
Zach Myers, 21, a senior majoring in computer science, said he, too, will pour the money back into the university.
“It was kind of crappy that they overcharged us,” said Myers.
“It’s disappointing, but I’ll just spend the money at the bookstore for school books for next semester.”
A couple of students said it was great news, because it’s money they didn’t expect.
It’s not the first time that UA ran into a problem with a fee increase.
UA also had sought last year to charge a fee of $50 per credit hour on higher-level courses but rescinded the fee after sharp criticism from state leaders and students. Those critics accused the school of trying to do an end-around the state freeze and raise tuition in a sneaky way.
The school has dealt with negative publicity since announcing $40 million in cutbacks last year to deal with its finances.
The cuts included eliminating more than 200 positions and axing the baseball team.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ. Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.