Just the Facts: Kent State's 'Tuition Plateau'

Some information recently circulated in local media calling out 's recently increased tuition plateau, or "overload fee," as the highest in the state of Ohio.

That's not the case, but Kent State's new credit hour surcharge will be the second most expensive when the change starts in the fall, Kent Wired reports.

The "recent information" I'm talking about appeared in an Ohio.com story that was incorrect and later corrected, Kent State spokesperson Emily Vincent said.

The original headline of the Ohio.com story said students at Kent State would be paying the highest premium in the state once the fee change starts, but that headline and story has since been changed.

That story preceded a Record-Courier article, which also incorrectly called it "the highest such surcharge in the state."

Kent Patch referred to the Ohio.com story in our coverage of the fee protest, making us accomplices in the erroneous reporting, but we have since updated our piece.

Vincent said the college with the highest tuition surcharge in Ohio is actually the University of Cincinnati, which will charge students $450 extra per credit hour if they enroll in more than 18 credit hours starting this fall.

"Making it the most in the state," Vincent said.

Yes, by $10 over Kent State's coming $440 surcharge starting for the 2012-2013 school year.

The point I'm getting at is that there's misinformation and misdirection revolving around this change in the tuition plateau, affectionately dubbed the "ambition penalty" by students whose intense majors practically require course loads above 18 hours per semester.

Even the latest piece by Kent Wired has one incorrect element: there is no credit hour cap at Kent State for the current school year.

In light of all the misinformation I thought I'd share a few helpful links. This first link comes from the university and tries to provide a comprehensive explanation of the change with tuition comparisons to other Ohio schools:

• Information about the Tuition Plateau and Per-Credit-Hour Fee

The second link is to the online petition created asking the university to eliminate the extra charge for credits after 17.

• President of Kent State University: Take away the extra charge for taking 17 or more credit hours at KSU.

Also, you can find students talking about it on this Facebook page.

And finally, you can read our past coverage below: