To each there comes a time where we have that one class that seems to require us to print every little assignment. After some time of doing this, we notice that we’ve managed to blow through our entire semester’s worth of printing credits. Now each time something is printed, that extra cost is tacked onto our U-Bill. Say you go over by 400 credits. That means that $4 is added onto the bill. Sure $4 is not that much, but college students try and save every penny that they can.

Even though the printing credits system is a great thing provided by the university, it is quite flawed. There needs to be a change in how the system is organized so that students are able to get the most out of their credits without having to pay overage fees.

As a member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, I receive 500 credits per semester which just so happens to be the default amount of credits, according to the Computation Advisory Committee. 500 printing credits seems like a lot and getting through the semester shouldn’t be a problem.

That wasn’t the case last semester. 

Due to a class that required a lot of printing, I blew through those credits in about 9 weeks. The reason that they disappeared so quickly was from the printers I had access to. I had a choice to pay either 7 credits per page or 10 credits per page. That fee sucks up those credits faster than you may think.

Even design students struggle to not go over. Greta Norris, freshman in pre-architecture, said, “I get 500 credits, but I am down to 34 right now.” Design students are able to get free printing at the design building, but for some the walk over is an inconvenience and it is much easier to print somewhere local for a cost.

Then there are some students that have a surplus of credits. These students are engineers, which is understandable since they have to print out a lot of pages, but they are given access to printers that only require one credit per page to print. Dathan Brubaker, freshman in mechanical engineering, said, “I get 2000 credits. From last semester, I maybe used 100 credits.” That means 1900 credits were wasted because they don’t transfer over.

It may seem like a great idea to simply just meander over to Black Engineering to print off those three copies of that five-page paper for that class peer review, but that is taking away the computers that the students in engineering need. Anyways, according to IT, “it is up to the college on who is able to use their labs.”

It is too simple to say, “Well just buy your own printer.” But printers are not that cheap and constantly having to buy ink doesn’t always seem to work with one’s bank account. Having your own printer would be a convenience and some are able to do it, but it is not an option that everyone can afford.

So what should be done so that students get the most out of their credits?

Credits should be able to be purchased like how students purchase meal plans. Each college would have their recommended amount of credits, but the student would get to decide how many credits they will actually buy. If a student knows they will be printing a lot and won’t have their own printer, they will be able to purchase more credits than others that are in a different boat.

At the end of the semester, students are able to edit how many printing credits they want for next semester. Since each semester is different, the amount of printing credits one may need is different too. This would be a great way to allow students to effectively use their credits and to prevent any overages.

We can’t get away from having to use printers but at least let the students decide how many credits that they feel is necessary for them to have each semester.