Students at North Central College who take more than 12 credit hours per term are required to pay an $825 overload fee per credit hour.
Students weighed in on how much they think the overload fee is and reasons for overload. Junior Cassandra Fenwick said she was fairly certain that the fee is around $820 per hour and if there were reasons to overload then it would be if a student is a double major and is trying to graduate in a relatively short amount of time.
Senior Danny Headley said he believed that the overload fee is $400 per credit hour. Headley believes if there was a reason to overload they would be classes you need to graduate that specifically pertain to your major.
Senior Robin Higgins said that she thought the overload fee was around $250 per credit hour. She is an education major and she would have to overload on practicum classes considering the education department changed the curriculum.
Senior Anthony Massih said that he thought the overload fee was considerably lower than most students guessed (he guessed well under $100). He goes on to say if there were classes to overload they would be the leadership ethics and values courses that one may not want to take but are required in order to graduate.
Ginger Donaldson, academic evaluator at the Registrar’s Office said, “If a student is interested in registering for more than 12 credit hours in an individual term, they must complete an overload request form. That form must first be approved by their academic advisor. After they obtain their advisors signature they will proceed to the associate academic dean for potential approval.”
Donaldson added that it is highly recommended that a student have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.33 or higher before students can take more than a dozen credit hours in a given term. However, she also mentions that it is not absolutely required that a student’s cumulative GPA is 3.33 and that every situation is looked at on a case by case basis.
Donaldson mentioned that one reason for a student to overload is because some of the general education classes that one takes. These classes can be four credits and when students take four classes in a term, it can put the number of credits above 12.
“The overload fee is no different from any other regular tuition or other fee that we collect,” said David Missurelli, assistant vice president for finance. “It’s all used for the same purpose.” He also said that the money collected from the overload fee is used to pay for a number of things, including but not limited to; paying for faculty and staff salaries, maintaining buildings and venues on campus, athletics, facilities used for athletic events and supplies.
“If we raise tuition by three percent, four percent, five percent or whatever it might be, the overload fee per credit hour is going to go up.” Missurelli said, “It’s tied in with a per credit hour (fee) for regular tuition.”
Missurelli mentioned some ways that students can avoid going over 12 credit hours and paying the fee associated with it. He said the best piece of advice he can give students is to work closely with their academic advisor to make sure that the student is headed in the direction desired. Plus, the academic advisor can help look at what classes a student needs to take in accordance with the college requirements for a specific major.
Donaldson said that Merlin will not allow any student to register for more than 12 credits in any term.
