*Follow-up to September 14 article. Read it here: https://stocktonargo.com/2020/09/14/stockton-moves-forward-without-cost-reduction/

Stockton’s administration and Board of Trustees, says it “strives to balance the cost of tuition and fees with the cost of providing the quality education and services students deserve.”

This year, the university says, is no exception. Stockton will still offer student services, but in different formats; for example, students can participate in club meetings, programs, and events online rather than in-person. 

Although classes and the majority of in-person programs have moved online, some students are still unhappy. Alexandra Varga, a senior theatre performance major, says her first few weeks of classes have been extremely difficult to get used to in a discipline like theatre. “I’m not getting the same experience online as in-person,” said Varga. “I miss learning behind-the-scenes skills of theatre in a hands-on environment.”

Across the nation, it seems many students agree. In July 2020, the Canadian company OneClass polled over 17,000 college students across the United States and Canada regarding tuition and fees for online classes. 93.2% of students agreed that tuition should be lower for online classes, 6.3% believed students should be able to opt out of fees for unavailable services, and only 0.4% believed tuition should remain the same.

Stockton says its goal is to balance affordability with high quality education, and wants to remind students it costs the same price to deliver coursework online as in-person.

Rachel Rowan, senior criminal justice major, said she still questions whether the university has students’ best interest at heart. “Stockton cares more about money than the quality of education they are able to provide to their students during a global pandemic” said Rowan. 

While other universities in New Jersey have cut their tuition and fees this semester, and Stockton has not, it remains more affordable than all except for Rowan University. Rowan’s fees are currently $12,938, while Stockton’s are $14,599. Princeton, Rutgers, and TCNJ are all still more expensive than Stockton, despite tuition and fee discounts.

No matter what other New Jersey schools have done to lower their costs, Stockton has made it clear that it will not. Instead, the university ensures it has made the best of the situation, and that its main focus is keeping current protocols until in-person courses and services can safely resume.

Until then, the university says it has made the best of the situation, and that the current system is in place with safety as the administration’s top priority.