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I know this is more off-topic than any thread to ever be posted. But I needed to relish in the fact that I have found a loop-hole at my college that will save over $10,000 dollars. Also, if there are any other students or parents out there maybe you can use my story to do the same.

I am a senior at Stonehill College right outside Boston. I am interning next semester at the Patriots and did not want to take a full course load in addition to a serious internship for my last semester at college. So I looked into taking a winter course that will lessen my course load from 5 to 4. The course cost $800 which sucks because by takin 4 classes next semester I still pay full tuition as a fulltime student.

So I got to thinking. Since I have fulfilled all my major requirements for graduating, why not take TWO winter courses which will make me only take THREE next semester. The result is I will become a part-time student. Here is the results:

Instead of taking 4 courses as a fulltime student and pay $13,000, I will now take 3 courses as a part time student and pay on a per-course basis. Each course costs $800. So for a semester at one of the more expensive colleges in the northeast, Ive found a way to cut my tuition to $2400.

That being said, I thought this was too good to be true so I sent an email to the dean. No more than 5 minutes later I get a call from the Dean of Stonehill. Apparently, I had uncovered the one loophole in the finances of the school. He congratulated me on discovering this after noone had ever done so. He then said I in fact can do this and save over $10,000 per semester and that he and the financial staff must now gather and figure out a way to fix this loophole.

O well, I just needed to vent my excitement on finding a way to get back at the college system that screws students constantly with outrageous tuition. Hopefully, any parents or students out there can look into your own school and see if you can go about a similar stratgegy to make the growing tution costs more bearable.

are you sure its not $800 per semester hour???

Thats great if it is...CONGRATS!

They send you off to college to try to gain a little knowledge,
But all you want to do is learn how to score.

Hey, at least you learned something!

I don't know that I'd say you "screwed" your college... (Oh, and BTW, I know at least one of the head honchos at Stonehill College is a parrothead who reads this board, if that makes a difference to you..... )

Rather, you hunted around and found a good deal. Good for you!

Let's see, $800/course and full time tuition is $13,000/semester. Usual course load is what, 15 credits (5 courses)? If I were an employer I wouldn't hire anybody who was stupid enough to pay $13,000/semester vs. $4,000/semester.

LIPH wrote:Let's see, $800/course and full time tuition is $13,000/semester. Usual course load is what, 15 credits (5 courses)? If I were an employer I wouldn't hire anybody who was stupid enough to pay $13,000/semester vs. $4,000/semester.

Yeah, but if I'm reading it right, Larry, if you take more than 3 courses, you're considered a full time student and are required to pay full tuition....

My college education cost me $16,000 per year 18 years ago. It was the best life investment I ever made. Never did I believe I was being ripped off. In fact looking back, I really got a great deal.

There's also other things that impact your classification as full-time or part-time student status, so if you're receiving any kind of financial aid or scholarships, you might want to check that out, too.

Where I go, everything is charged per credit hour, so there's no massive difference between part/time or full/time except the number of courses you're taking.

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

LIPH wrote:Let's see, $800/course and full time tuition is $13,000/semester. Usual course load is what, 15 credits (5 courses)? If I were an employer I wouldn't hire anybody who was stupid enough to pay $13,000/semester vs. $4,000/semester.

Yeah, but if I'm reading it right, Larry, if you take more than 3 courses, you're considered a full time student and are required to pay full tuition....

It just doesn't sound right to me. I wonder is Shannon is right, it's $800/hour, not per semester. $800/course is less than $300/credit. I was paying almost that much for grad school in 1975.

damn - Steven's 14 months at MMI cost $ 16,000. They had no loopholes - 3.5 people looked for them!!!! (his dad is the .5)

Congrats on the Loophole!!!!!

If you're getting financial aid, you may have to start repaying your loans as soon as you stop being a Full Time student.

Still worth it, in my opinion. Nice find.

However, I disagree with your assessment that you're otherwise being "screwed." A college education from a good school is invaluable.

If you have student loans, you've done yourself a great service in saving on the tuition and interest you'd pay on teh $10,000!

Nice job.

Catch&Release wrote:If you're getting financial aid, you may have to start repaying your loans as soon as you stop being a Full Time student.

Still worth it, in my opinion. Nice find.

However, I disagree with your assessment that you're otherwise being "screwed." A college education from a good school is invaluable.

If you have student loans, you've done yourself a great service in saving on the tuition and interest you'd pay on teh $10,000!
Nice job.

exactly. even if you have to start paying off early (tho most have a 6 month grace period, or long enough to get out), 10k in additional costs are not worth the 6 month deferment.

Interesting. You might want to make sure you get the necessary registration done before they can fix the loophole....

When I went to FSU... if I recall correctly tuition for IN STATE students was around $40 a credit hour. I took 5 classes per quarter (oh how I loved quarters vs sememters!) Came to about $600 per quarter. Plus books, labs, dorm etc....

Alot has changed since then I see.

I checked Stonehills website....it IS $800/ per 3 hour course...which is an AMAZING deal .....better then the community colleges almost....I'd say it has to be typo....


BUT I will tell you that most colleges require you to be full time if you live on campus...also it will most likely affect any FEDERAL financial aid that you receive

buffettbride wrote:There's also other things that impact your classification as full-time or part-time student status, so if you're receiving any kind of financial aid or scholarships, you might want to check that out, too.

Catch&Release wrote:If you're getting financial aid, you may have to start repaying your loans as soon as you stop being a Full Time student.

As BB and C&R mentioned, going part time will affect you if you have any federal loans/grants.

One semester, I dropped down to 9 hours (3 credits) instead of the minimum 12 hours (4 credits). Not only did I lose my govt money, but I also triggered the grace period on paying back my loans. Depending on how far in dept you are, this could be a good move or a bad move.

If you have any Student Loans I am sure you have figured out that once you stop becoming a full time student the 6month clock starts to start paying them back. Meaning come June, probably days after you graduate the first payment will be due. If you don't have have any loans, then you have nothing to worry about.

Skibo wrote:My college education cost me $16,000 per year 18 years ago. It was the best life investment I ever made. Never did I believe I was being ripped off. In fact looking back, I really got a great deal.

You did get a really great deal considering many colleges and universities today cost full-time students upwards of $40,000 or even $50,000 per year including room and board.

haha I hope that head honcho at Stonehill doesnt read this and decide to find a way to prevent this.


All the things mentioned so far that would prevent this I have covered...

-I live off-campus
-I dont have financial aid
-$800/course is not a typo

The only setback is we can't participate in intramural sports... which will be the next thing I must (censored) against...

I just went out and bought a 12-pack of Sam Adams Winter Collection to celebrate

parrothead338 wrote:haha I hope that head honcho at Stonehill doesnt read this and decide to find a way to prevent this.

Just remember that the whole world can read whatever you write here....

and if I were you, I'd go delete the paragraph with the word "scheme" in it...... you're now solidly entering that "honcho's" area................