Tuition refunds claimed slowly

Monday, June 21, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Few students who were overcharged by the University and Community College System of Nevada have asked for refunds so far after a foul-up on residency requirements.

Buster Neel, vice chancellor for finance and administration, told the Legislative Interim Finance Committee last week that the various schools have not received many applications to refund the money.

He estimated the total money due students is $8.1 million, but he said he did not think the ultimate total would reach that amount.

The schools charged students who had been in Nevada for less than one year prior to the beginning of classes the higher non-residency tuition, as board policy required.

State law, on the other hand, allowed students to establish residency after only six months, and set no time limits on students who were dependents of Nevada residents or who had moved here for another reason other than to attend college.

The regents in March voted to refund money to students who had overpaid.

Trudy Larson, newly appointed assistant vice chancellor, said when her office asked officials at the state's universities and community colleges how many students had asked for refunds since then, they said, "Not many."

Officials are going through files to try to identify students who would be eligible. Then letters are sent to those students.

In the meantime, Larson has asked for a count of how many students have requested refunds and hopes to have it for legislators this month.

Neel told the committee it was "tough to find these people." He said they may have entered class and then moved away before graduating. The schools keep track of the alumni who graduate, he said.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, urged university officials to make a strong effort to find these students.

'They (the students) didn't mess this up," Giunchigliani said. "They paid a great deal of money on a policy that was flawed."

Neel said the schools are "making every effort to contact" them.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, questioned why UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada owed the biggest amount. He said UNLV's potential hit is $5.3 million while that of the community college is only $2.4 million.

"That seems disproportionate," said Coffin, who noted that all the campuses followed the same policy.

The students have three years to file a claim for their refunds.

Larson told the committee this was just the beginning of the notification process, and indicated more applications will be submitted. She said the Board of Regents was "very interested" in seeing that the students who overpaid were reimbursed.

The refunds are now being paid out of interest earned on investments at the various schools. But university officials indicated that the state may be approached for additional money in the future if the schools run short of funds.

The issue came up during consideration of the request of the university system to spend $462,456 in additional student fees at the UNLV Law School for operational expenses, library books and computer equipment. The committee approved the request.