A portion of Ohio Wesleyan students are unable to view their current grades and receive transcripts due to a balance on their student account, causing frustration.
The OWU Student Accounts Office puts a hold on students with balances to prevent them from receiving official transcripts when money is owed and all other grade reports on Self Service like unofficial transcripts.
This is a problem because many students are on payment plans that they complete throughout the semester resulting in a balance owed for that entire period.
“The balance hold is for all accounts that are $1,000 or more. This will prevent official transcripts, keep students from viewing mid-term grades, and prevent registration,” said Registrar Michelle Kibler.
Many students trying to apply for summer internships or scholarships for next semester are restricted from accessing an official transcript.
“I really need to see my official transcripts to apply for a summer internship but I haven’t completed my final payment of the semester so I’m stuck,” said sophomore student Kevin Zhou.
Another issue causing student unease is their inability to view their grades going into the final stretch. This puts students who pay for their own tuition at a disadvantage because they can only complete payments when it financially works for them.
Kibler says this is a relatively new system for OWU.
“The balance holds were added to students’ accounts much earlier this semester and last semester, so we have run into this problem before,” said Kibler.
As OWU and the students navigate these new waters, the school does the best they can to help by allowing students to walk into the Registrar's Office and receive a paper with their mid-term estimates because they can override the hold.