University treats COOP students unfairly

This is my first semester in the COOP program at N.C. State. I am also a sophomore living on campus. When you sign up for the COOP program you have to sign a piece of paper declaring that you do not want to accept any financial aid/ federal loans because you are not a full time student. I completely agree with this because the money should go to students who are in classes. You are still considered a student at N.C. State when you are in the COOP program. You have access to the gym, health center, dining halls and you can live in the dorms. I decided to live in the dorms because I had been there the fall semester. I knew that without financial aid or federal loans, I would have to take out a private loan. The loan company approved me and sent the funds to the school, all of this took place in late Nov./early Dec., well within the time the school allows you to pay your bill. I just found out today (over a month later) that the school is returning the money to the lender, because I am not enrolled in any classes. I have two questions, why didn’t anybody tell me (why did I have to call them) and what does the University expect COOPs living on campus to do? We have to pay our bill at the beginning of the semester before we begin getting paid by the company we are working for and they will not accept money given to them by a loan company.

Bobby FitzjohnSophomore, Electrical engineering

College students aren’t made of money

It all starts with $1880 in tuition each semester. Bundled with that tuition is over $600 in student fees. Then, students living on campus are subject to another $2000 in housing costs and about $1000 in dining costs.

To me, those cost figures don’t sound too unreasonable. However, students often fail to realize that there are “hidden costs” that are not listed on a student’s tuition bill. Services such as laundry, cable TV or telephone service are not included in the housing charge. Many courses use WebAssign, which requires students to buy an access code to do homework. This is not included in the tuition cost. Students who have cars are also required to buy an expensive parking permit.

Additionally, the costs of textbooks can add up to several hundred dollars. Though the University Bookstore keeps the costs of textbooks down, publishers still charge an arm and a leg.

The University also provides “convenience” services for students, such as C-Stores or laundry machines. However, the cost of these services is unreasonably high. These services also rely on the use of the all-campus card, and it costs me $2 each time I add money to my account. The university should try to minimize the costs for these services for the sake of the students. NCSU is a public, land-grant university, not a business.

I, like many other students, have not yet found a job on-campus. I hate having to keep asking my parents for money each time one of these “hidden costs” comes up. College students are poor, plain and simple.

Adam Philyawsophomore, general engineering unmatriculated