YSU writes off $1.6M in tuition debt

The state attorney general's office will continue to pursue students' debts.
& lt;a href=mailto:viviano@vindy.com & gt;By JoANNE VIVIANO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- As Youngstown State University officials write off $1.6 million in unpaid student tuition, administrators are working to create a collection policy that will help prevent future students from stiffing the university with their delinquent accounts.
Terry R. Ondreyka, vice president for financial affairs, said the $1.6 million being written off represents about 1,900 unpaid tuition accounts from 1992 to fall 2002 that have been deemed uncollectable.
When tuition goes unpaid, the university sends follow-up bills and makes phone calls. If those are unsuccessful, students are turned over to the state attorney general's office for further attempts to collect the debt.
Ondreyka said the university also uses a second debt collection agency. The entire process can take two years.
The final move
If those steps are futile, Ondreyka said, the debt is deemed uncollectable.
"If, after all this effort, that debt is still outstanding, we're going to write the debt off our books and not go through the expensive process [of continuing to bill]," Ondreyka said. "It comes to the point of diminishing returns, where it's just not cost productive to do that."
Overall, the amount uncollected is about 1.5 percent of the university's tuition revenue, what Ondreyka calls "the high end of OK." One-half percent to 1.5 percent is considered an acceptable range, Ondreyka said.
The good news, he added is that "98.5 percent of our students are fiscally responsible."
Still, a goal is to get the YSU delinquent number below 1 percent, he said.
Driving down the rate
His office is working with the offices of the bursar, academic affairs and student affairs to create a policy that will help YSU drive down the delinquent account rate. He said he expects a plan to be implemented in the spring term.
The delinquency comes from students on installment plans who fail to pay, Ondreyka explained, and any organization allowing such plans will always have a certain amount of delinquency.
Writing off uncollectable debt is "pretty standard procedure," Ondreyka said, and it prevents the university from having to carry additional reserves to satisfy external auditors.
Bad consequences
Students remain flagged in the system with a financial sanction, meaning they cannot register for classes, receive grades, get a transcript or get a diploma. They are also reported to the credit bureau.
"It's not like they're getting away without an impact. Some young people don't realize the negative impact these delinquencies can have down the road," Ondreyka said.
Further, the debt does not disappear simply because YSU has erased it from its books.
Mark Gribben, communications director at the state attorney's general office, said accounts are not considered closed unless there is a collection or some other resolution.
State and public agencies are required to certify all accounts that are 90 or more days past due to the office. Such accounts from colleges and universities are "extremely common" and the office seeks everything from library fines to tuition, Gribben said.
State attorneys will file a lawsuit, garnish wages, attach a lien to a bank account or property, or seek compensation from an estate, he explained. Debt is forgiven only in the case of a bankruptcy and/or court order.
Any debt collected by the state office is returned to the universities, Gribben said. At that time, the debt would be placed back on the organization's books and satisfied.