Students give up an arm and a leg to graduate from Kennesaw State as colleges are notorious for requiring students to pay substantial fees to obtain their degree — including graduation costs.
Due to the already high costs of attending KSU, all materials relating to graduation should be free.
Students learning that they have to pay for graduation is the equivalent of opening a toy on Christmas and realizing that batteries were not included.
“College already took all my money. Why do they want more?” senior animation major Adi Martinez said. “Kind of makes me question where the money is going. They cannot just throw us a ceremony?”
Students have to pay a significant amount just to petition for graduation. First, students pay $15 dollars for the certificate and $50 dollars for the petition fee. That is $65 dollars to graduate — not including gowns — after dropping thousands upon thousands of dollars to make it to graduation, according to KSU’s graduation webpage.
With the exorbitant expenses of college, forcing students to pay for graduation is not fair — it is an insult to years of hard work.
“It is unfair. Given how much we pay for tuition, it is just another way to grab money.” senior English major Analee Eagerton said.
Students have to buy their cap and gown, which will cost $48. They will need a tassel, tacking on an additional $5 per rope. The eager graduate may want to spread the news, so they will have to fork over $30 for the announcements, according to pricing at the KSU Bookstore.
On top of tuition, the price of attending college costs an additional $2,000 to $3,000 dollars in annual fees and books, according to U.S. News.
For the 2019-20 academic year, in-state KSU students are estimated to pay almost $3,000 dollars in transportation fees, $3,400 in personal expenses, $4,500 in tuition, $125 in loan fees and $2,006 in other fees, according to KSU’s website. Out-of-state students pay over $15,000 for tuition and $4,700 in personal expenses.
In total, in-state KSU students pay a total of $27,300 a year, while out-of-state students pay $41,200.
“I paid four years of tuition. They should take graduation out of my fees,” senior psychology major DeNashia Robinson said. “We have to pay just to petition for graduation.”
College graduation needs to be free. It is the least KSU could do for students who already paid a significant amount to attend — the years of debt students already graduate with should not increase for their own commencement.
