Response By the University

I just want to start off by saying thank you for signing and sharing this petition, even if you do not attend Troy University. Every college student knows how expensive college is, and during this pandemic everyone is well aware of the high unemployment rates and financial instability. 

With that being said, Troy University has responded to the concerns about the added $50 fee per credit hour. An email was sent out by Dr. Jim Bookout the Senior Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs and Online Education explaining why this decision was made. He stated again that this fee is due to the rising costs of technology related to online classes. This is simply not true. The email also states that Troy University has not raised their online class tuition rate for 10 years. They fail to realize that online students have to pay for their own WiFi and computer access. 

Lastly, no comment was made about why this fee was announced 6 days before classes will begin. There are several students who were not prepared to pay for this extra amount of money and will not be able to afford this. If Troy was actually practicing “good financial stewardship” they would not have waited until the last minute to send out this announcement. This was a highly unethical decision.