Tuition, just the mere utterance strikes fear in the hearts of high school seniors and college sophomores alike, so just what about it is so scary? Tuition is what you end up paying in order to enroll in and attend classes.

Tuition includes many things that may or may not be relevant to your actual studies, like bus passes, parking permits and other methods of transportation that get you to class on time, however, it excludes things like textbooks, calculators, and other academic materials you may need for your classes so you must budget accordingly for those materials too.

Tuition rates are very conditional, as they can change based on the field or program you study, your residency or even the year. For example in the academic year of 2020-21 for a student that is a resident who is taking liberal arts transfer courses, they would pay approximately $187.85 per credit, while a student in the same course in the same academic year but from out of state would pay approximately $281.76.

Tuition prices also change annually, so there is even more to take into account. For instance, for the academic year of 2020-2021, the resident tuition rates have increased by 1.8% since last year. With the added changes of paying for your classes, dropping or changing classes you’ve already enrolled in also changes slightly.

Madison College has a system for issuing refunds proportional to the amount of the class meetings that are completed. If you drop the class at least one day before the class starts, you get a complete refund, and the later you wait the less money you get back, capping off at 20 percent.

With the variance in expenses detailed earlier, budgeting for college can be tough, especially without any financial assistance from family.

Students looking for opportunities to get help with their tuition should look no further than Madison College with its plethora of financial information and resources. With tuition prices increasing yearly, scholarship opportunities seem more and more valuable, but luckily Madison College is no slouch when it comes to establishing programs to give aid and opportunities to students.

With the advent of Covid-19 Madison College received funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and put those funds to use for a scholarship program for students eligible for other programs like the Federal Pell Grant, or the Federal Perkins loan.

Madison College was given $2.75 million, and they have awarded around $1.9 million already to students. Madison College is making an effort to distribute this money first to the neediest students, with low Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

Tuition is a worrisome subject and a point of contention for many students, but all is not lost as Madison College offers many resources to understand and help pay for your tuition.