Michigan budget disaster, finally recovering.

Remember back at the end of summer when Michigan could not manage to agree on a budget for the new year? Well it ment that a good chunk of Michigan schools were not recieving their financial support from the state, many not being able to hold classes. As a Ferris State University student this sadly did not mean a longer summer vacation but instead a special "contingency fee" added to my tuition. A contingency fee that added up to over $1 million! Not something a college student likes to hear.

But I recieved this little bit of information from Ferris at the end of the semester.
"On Friday, Dec. 14, the Ferris State University Board of Trustees voted to return more than $1 million in tuition to students. The monies were collected through a per credit hour contingency fee charged at the start of the 2007 fall semester.

The University established the fee in response to a delayed state payment to public universities, and uncertainty on whether the state would meet its ongoing budget obligations. In November when the delayed payment had been received Trustees removed the fee for Spring semester. With the state recently finalizing its 2007 package of taxation and budget legislation, the Ferris board voted to refund the fees collected fall semester."

From what I see that is a $100 credit on my account. Granted I still owe $1,700 for my two classes this semester. But $100 is still a good chunk of change to get back that I didn't think I would be seeing again.