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  • 2 years ago
Disappointed, frustrated and worried; the emotions of a University of the West Indies student who has had to take a break from her studies after her first semester.
That's due to what she indicates was poor communication concerning higher tuition fees from UWI, which GATE is not covering in full.
She spoke with TV6 News in a telephone interview. Alicia Boucher brings you her story.
Transcript
00:00 When changes to the GATE program were made, allowing people who had received prior funding
00:07 for certificate courses to get full funding for bachelor programs, Nakeisha Gonzalez was
00:13 elated as she was now able to pursue her dream of furthering her studies.
00:18 The 26-year-old chose a bachelor's in psychology at the University of the West Indies Global
00:23 Campus and entered the September 2023 cohort, having been approved for 100% GATE funding.
00:32 But it all came to a screeching halt in January 2024, spawning a headache for Gonzalez, who
00:39 was looking forward to her second semester after completing her first semester exams.
00:44 "So after getting accepted, there was a hold on my account, which UE themselves did, well
00:54 Open Campus, did email us and tell us that there was really no hold on anybody's account
00:59 and that they were giving everybody to the end of the semester to pay.
01:05 I did not think that that applied to me since I applied for 100% funding."
01:12 Gonzalez tells us she did not see a pamphlet that was sent to her via email in August before
01:17 she was even accepted into UE, stating that the university had increased its tuition fees
01:23 and that students would have to cover the balance that was not being covered by GATE.
01:28 This document pointed to a 5% increase in tuition fees for the academic year 2022-2023,
01:35 reduced to 4% for semester 1 of academic year 2023-2024, and then increased by 2% for semester
01:43 2 for the same academic year.
01:46 According to her, there was no other form of communication from UE on that issue, from
01:51 the point of her acceptance to the time she was getting ready to register for her second
01:56 semester.
01:57 "So in January, I was not able to register for semester 2 courses because now there was
02:05 an actual hold on my account.
02:07 At this point, GATE had already accepted me, GATE had already given me full 100% funding,
02:14 so I was a bit confused.
02:17 So when I was reaching out to everybody, I believe, in UE, everybody, I sort of got an
02:23 outing from around the 12th or so of January."
02:28 But based on Gonzalez's claims, substantiated by emails and screenshots sent to us, the
02:34 first response she received from UE to four emails she had sent in that time span was
02:40 on January 22nd.
02:42 Meanwhile, GATE officials kept referring her back to UE to address her concerns.
02:50 The final clarification concerning her predicament was on January 29th.
02:55 It was then UE explained that the 100% funding she was receiving from GATE was based on UE's
03:02 2015 tuition costs and that there is always a difference that students are responsible
03:08 for.
03:09 UE informed Gonzalez that she would have to clear the balance of $4,458 owing from the
03:16 previous term before a payment plan can be worked out for semester 2, for which by that
03:21 time the registration date had already passed.
03:24 "So I'm guessing that you are not in semester 2 at this point?"
03:32 "No, I'm not there at this point at all.
03:36 I couldn't afford to see that at all.
03:40 And again, jobs are so unpredictable."
03:43 "Are you employed right now?"
03:46 "As of last week, no, I am not."
03:50 It is taking a mental and emotional toll on Gonzalez, who tells us she initially broke
03:55 down when she was hit with the news.
03:57 "I was a bit discontent.
03:58 So this is the second time I believe I'm trying to finish my degree.
04:03 So it's a bit frustrating.
04:06 It was the same financial.
04:07 So I was extremely disappointed.
04:08 Right now, you know, I feel stuck because I didn't have the stock, which I didn't really
04:19 want to at all."
04:22 While Gonzalez understands that there might be administrative fees attached to graduate
04:27 programs, she is hoping that GATE and UWE can come up with an arrangement that would
04:32 not disadvantage students, especially those who are unable to afford tuition.
04:37 "I would like that if you apply for 100% funding, you don't have to worry about an
04:45 administrative fee being attached to that even after you get confirmation that yes,
04:51 you have 100% funding."
04:54 She's also calling on UWE to do better in terms of communicating with students.
04:59 TV6 News contacted UWE St. Augustine on the issue and sent our questions via email.
05:04 We're told that the information has been related to UWE's global campus, also called Open Campus,
05:11 where Gonzalez is a student.
05:13 We are awaiting a response.
05:15 Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
05:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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