In an effort to make up for the past year’s pandemic-related struggles, Pacific University has recently released the free tuition semester. This semester is an extra semester where students can be enrolled in classes without paying any tuition. A normal semester for undergraduate students costs $23,101.
“This semester is a way for students who missed out on activities to have a chance to do those activities,” said the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Sarah Phillips.
With so many sports and programs at Pacific canceled the past year due to COVID-19, this is an excellent opportunity to get back that lost semester without having to worry about the cost of tuition. On top of that, any credits earned during the free tuition semester can be transferred to your major. This means that those who struggled with the transition to online learning and failed a couple of important classes, as a result, can recover using the free tuition semester. There are only three requirements to be eligible. First, you must be a full-time undergraduate student of Pacific. Second, you must be part of the Forest Grove campus and third, you must complete both the Fall 2020 and Spring 2020 semesters.
The reactions among students upon learning about this free tuition semester goes both ways.
“We could take certain classes for fun; like art classes,” said student Itzel Vazquez.
These are classes that she wouldn’t be able to take normally due to the requirements of her education major. Other students like Nathan Booth who majors in history with a minor in philosophy, weren’t as thrilled.
“None of the credits can be applied to getting a second degree or getting any other majors or minors while we’re here, and that was basically the reason why it really turned me off,” said Booth.
When deciding whether this is for you or not, the best thing to do according to Financial Aid Director, Leslie Limper, is to check out the website and the document since you can view it without submitting it. Click here for more information about the free tuition semester. — Kaleb Makimoto
Photo courtesy of Kaleb Makimoto
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