Photo courtesy of stonehill.edu.
By Kate Packard
Stonehill recently communicated to students that they would be issued a prorated reimbursement for room charges, as well as the remaining balance on their meal plan.
As of today, students who were set to graduate this May have received their refund checks and the College is in the process of crediting refunds to returning students’ accounts, according to the email sent out by the College on April 24. The email detailing refunds was signed by Vice President for Student Affairs Pauline Dobrowski and Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Jeanne Finlayson.
According to Finlayson, after looking at every student’s tuition bill, the College decided to reimburse a flat rate rather than adjusting for financial aid. Students who receive financial aid or scholarships, pay less than the normal rate for room and board, but were refunded as though they did pay the full amount.
While the “room” charge was reimbursed at a prorated rate, the College was unable to refund any aspect of the “board” fees, which totals $1,770 per semester. When asked why these fees were nonrefundable, Finlayson explained that board fees are used to fund personnel and contract costs associated with housing. These costs include facilities contracts as well as salaries for resident directors.
The College is committed to not laying off any employees for the remainder of the fiscal year, nor are pay cuts being considered at this time, which means that those funds are critical for paying Stonehill employees their annual salary.
Finlayson also noted that the meal plan refund was being funded solely by Stonehill. Because Sodexo is under contract, they were unable to issue refunds directly, which means that any meal plan refunds that students received were funded directly by the College.
In total, Finlayson estimates that the College took a $5.8 million hit when issuing refunds to students. Some students and families still feel, however, that they should have seen larger refunds due to the unforeseen decrease in the quality of education students received.
“I love my professors but the quality of my education went down once the quarantine started. That’s not something I blame anyone for, nor do my parents,” senior Lauren Journet said. “It’s been an awful time for everyone, but to be paying upwards of $30,000 for half a semester is a little bit outrageous.”
When asked if she was disappointed in the reimbursement amount, senior parent Susan Rodrigues said, “No, but based on the fact that the students were not able to use the facilities, buildings, libraries, gyms, have access to advisors [in-person], utilize or consume utilities or food, I would have liked to see a higher percentage refunded. However, there is an understanding that this [is an unprecedented event] in history, and that the situation was also completely unexpected.”
This is a sentiment often echoed by colleges nationwide, that charge less for online courses than for in-person ones. Take Johnson & Wales University, for example. Generally speaking, they offer both in-person courses and online courses, with in-person courses costing $460 more per credit.
To recoup some of the losses that the College has seen after disbursing refunds, they have instituted a hiring freeze and a budget freeze for the upcoming fiscal and academic year. The CARES Act will also help the school manage its finances, but it could also help students as well.
The CARES Act refers to emergency stimulus funding being paid out by the federal government to entities across the nation that have been impacted by COVID-19, including $14 billion in aid set aside for distribution to colleges. Of the funds demarcated for schools, there is an underlying condition that half of that money be allocated towards students, either directly or indirectly.
Stonehill is set to receive approximately $1.5 million in federal aid, with $750,000 being set aside for students, according to EdSource.org. Finlayson noted that the approval for this funding was received by Stonehill on April 29 and the College is working towards establishing a certification process for students to apply for that aid.
According to Finlayson, all students are eligible to receive funding as long as they can certify the expenditures they had to incur as a result of the transition to online learning. Such expenditures may include (but are not limited to) technology, food, or daycare. This certification process follows the guidelines set by the Department of Education.
Finlayson indicated that the College planned to begin communications to students surrounding this process on May 11. Students should anticipate information coming within the next few days.
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