Missouri state should level the cost of online classes to be the same cost per credit hour as seated courses. Due to Covid-19, Missouri State University moved large amounts of their classes to online instead of seated. This is an understandable decision due to the state of the current world, however, a decision that is costing students significantly more money during a time of already increased economic hardships for students. Missouri State's current explanation for why online classes cost more is that they need to account for the "additional costs of associated infrastructure and learning tools." However, online classes utilize the same online resources as seated classes (blackboard, zoom, etc). Therefore, I do not understand the excessive increased cost in online tuition.

     Online classes cost in-state students $74 more per credit hour than seated courses (Online tuition per credit hour $302 in-state, Seated tuition per credit hour $228 in-state). If just one of a student's 3 credit hour courses got moved online, that would cost them an extra $222. If half of a student classes got moved online it would cost them upwards of $555. During this time of potential increased economic stress on students, it is not fair to take advantage of the situation by making students pay increased tuition for online classes that they did not intentionally choose to take online in the first place. $74 more per credit hour times 7.5 ( half the average students fall class credit hours ) times 26,000 (Missouri State University's 2019 enrollment) equals $14,430,000. Missouri State University stands to make over 14 million dollars in increased tuition costs with forcing classes online. I petition for Missouri State to level the cost of online classes to be the same as the cost of the seated classes that students registered for in the first place.