A new tuition payment plan at Iowa State is in place for the 2000-2001 school year.

The program, which will change the due date for fall payments from Sept. 15 to Aug. 20, is already in effect and will move up due dates for each of the three payment options, which include paying in full, paying over three months or paying over one year.

Pat Dale, manager of Accounts Receivable in the ISU Receivables Office, said she thinks the program will be beneficial because it “would really let us be more proactive in how to counsel students” who find themselves lagging behind in payments.

Besides targeting those people who need help preparing for their payments, the new plan will also require students to make a third payment before they are able to register for spring classes, said Joan Thompson, ISU treasurer.

Thompson said in the past, some students have enrolled in classes without paying for them, causing the class to be closed, but then they change their minds after it is too late for someone else to enroll in the class.

Jon Coloff, junior in biology, said he thinks if students have to pay up front for classes, they will take registering more seriously.

“It would be much easier to drop out if you haven’t paid a dime,” Coloff said. “I’ve been fairly lucky, but I have had some problems getting into lab sections I want.”

The majority of the students the new plan will affect are those who do not receive financial aid, Dale said, since financial-aid recipients already pay for their school during the month of August.

“I think it [the new plan] really needs to be done, and it’s more fair to all students,” Dale said.

As far as the 60 percent of students who receive scholarships, Dale said she does not anticipate an increased problem for them because most scholarship money is available by Aug. 20 and a notice of the new policy was sent to scholarship donators informing them of the change.

Thompson said ISU officials are trying to get the word out on the new policy through any information sent to students, on the Internet and within each department so they have enough time to raise money for their tuition.

Still, some ISU students said they’re worried about having money in time for the payments.

Farrel Miller, senior in management information systems, said he had not heard of the new plan and is currently paying for summer classes.

“I could use the extra time to get money,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Because this is the first year of the new payment plan, Thompson said students will not be dropped from classes if they miss the first payment.

“We’re going to be as accommodating as we possibly can this first year,” she said.