At the start of the spring semester, administration notified students that the block tuition model would be reduced to 33 hours for the next academic year. In March, administration retracted this change, returning block tuition to 36 hours.
The initial decision led to comments from students and faculty alike. Brenda Castillo, freshman biology major from El Paso, planned to leave ACU as a result.
“I was actually not planning on coming back next semester because of the change to block tuition,” Castillo said. “But then I found out that they’re changing it back, so now I’m okay, and I’m staying.”
In response to widespread criticism, the university took the rare step of resending the policy change. Tamara Long, vice president of enrollment and student engagement, was tasked with notifying students of both changes in a timely manner. She ensured that these decisions were not taken lightly.
“Any time we make a decision at the university, it’s made with multiple senior-level leaders around a table,” Long said. “It’s definitely not done with one person or even two individuals. It’s done with many and with a lot of thought about what is best for students.”
Several students and parents felt confusion and frustration surrounding the initial change made to the block tuition model. Ariana Pereira, freshman biology major from Houston, struggled to adjust her plans.
“When I first got the email that they were changing it, it completely ruined the schedule that I had. When you’re a freshman, you plan out your whole schedule through senior year to make sure that you’re satisfying all of the requirements. I had to reconfigure everything,” Pereira said.
The university’s original decision to change the block tuition model was influenced by the majority of students not utilizing the full 36 hours.
“As we were making plans for the next school year and evaluating things, it was apparent that at any given point in time, only about 22 percent of students were really maximizing their utilization of block tuition,” Long said. “There were a significant number of students that weren’t, so we were really trying to think about what supports the whole.”
One month after block tuition was changed to 33 hours, students were notified that the model was returning to 36 hours. This change was made in time for students to plan their schedules accordingly for the next semester.
“There are a lot of factors of why we had to communicate it when we did. Upon doing that, as you can imagine, we got a lot of feedback,” Long said. “I’m really grateful and thankful to work at a place where leaders are willing to sit around a table and recognize that maybe we didn’t make the right decision or the best decision.”
Long has received positive feedback since administration chose to return block tuition to 36 hours. She said it was important to return to the original model due to many factors, including affordability and ACU’s values. In addition, this model encourages on-time graduation.
“We don’t want people to feel like we are just knee-jerking them around,” Long said. “But I do hope that decision sent a really clear message about the type of institution we are and the kind of leaders we are.”
