School Tuition issue caused by a small mistake

Hello guys, 

I am an international student, who has recently graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. I have been far away from my home in India and have been living in Kentucky, USA since 2014 and during these six years, I have been a student in good standing, working hard to achieve success in my field and in my research, always paying my fees on time and have been responsible in finishing my graduate schoolwork. 

Coming to the story of what actually caused me to make this Gofundme, I need to provide a brief background on how my degree requirements were structured. The mechanical engineering department has two options to choose from for a degree: A thesis option with 8 courses and a thesis and a non-thesis option with 10 courses and a project. I have always been keen on research and learning through first hand data. So, I naturally chose the thesis option. I have knocked out all of my coursework portion of my degree requirements in 2014-2015 and since 2015, have worked on my thesis until 2020. 

I have also worked since 2017 as a contract engineer. In February 2020, I had the opportunity to apply for a work visa to become a full-time employee at a company and for the paperwork, would have needed a completed Master’s degree to havea good chance in the H1B Visa lottery in the graduate student quota. Considering Ihad not much time to get my degree and also, not enough time to finish all the necessary steps for the thesis option, I went to a department Student Advisor for help, who actually understood my situation and time crunch and tried to suggest me an alternative option to get my degree sooner than later. So, as I originally mentioned, if I had been moved to a non-thesis option, I would have had to do two extra course to meet degree requirements. However, originally, when I did my coursework, I had done 9 courses as part of my thesis option. So, I needed just one more course to meet the degree requirement, and my thesis could be presented as a project, which would have made it a quicker option to obtain my degree and filing for my work visa quicker. This seemed like a great option at the time because the course that was suggested was called ‘Independent Research Study’, which was infact what I actually did as part of my thesis work for 5 years: an independent research study. I was informed I will have to bear the financial addition with the added course. This is where a small miscommunication and assumption has led to a major problem to me owing the school $5600. There are two types of fees to pay when a student registers for a course. A small credit hour fee and a huge tuition fee. Considering the name and nature of the course, I ‘assumed’ I would be doing an independent research study by myself, with my own resources, on my own time. That is what I did. I didn’t have to use any university resources, sit in any classroom, or meet any professor. Also, remember this course wasadded mid semester. (Mid March). So, I assumed the fees were going to be just the credit hour fees because them charginga tuition fee for an independent researchwas unthinkable for me. I still think it is immensely unfair. But that conversation is for another day.

I have finished my final project presentation early April, passed my final exam, graduated and Boom! I have not been receiving my degree for more than a month. It is because I owed the university 5600 dollars all of a sudden, which is due to the added course. This meant the university considers me passed but not graduated. The only reason I chose to make the thesis to non-thesis option shift is to get my thesis early and this infact, made it so that I couldn’t get my degree until I paid my fees. I have reached out to several people at the university about how I was caught off guard, how I felt there was a miscommunication and misunderstanding, hoping I could trace it back to Mid March, and go ahead and do my final exam in the thesis option without any changes again but nothing helped. The university couldn’t put me back in the thesis option and let me do that option again because apparently, ‘I was already considered passed’ and to get my degree, I needed to pay the huge fee. The university wouldn’t work with me on the fees or tracing it back to before my ‘thesis to non-thesis option shift’ happened. They said they understood my situation but they couldn’t help or work with me, because I have already given and passed my final exam.  

Honestly, I wasn’t trying to waive off my fees and let me keep everything for free. I was ready to redo my thesis final exam if they worked with me and rolled it back to where I was Mid March. My small assumption due to miscommunication led me to fall behind on my financial and career plans. I still believe it is unfair to charge a full tuition fee for a course I joined mid-semester, which is actually an independent research study. However, I was willing to redo my exam again and go about the whole process as per my original thesis option. But the university wouldn’t give me a chance to do that and work with me. Being an international student in itself is a big financial burden. Adding to that coronavirus restrictions, not having enough work hours, puts me in a tougher spot with this 5600 dollar unexpected burden. What’s worse, the original intent to get my degree sooner has actually gotten much more delayed. 

I hope to receive any help I can get. I am willing to answer any questions. I understand it is a long post and it might get confusing. So, please reach out to me at 

https://www.facebook.com/surya.teja.75