Tuition is $6,600/year. Students may make monthly payments of $550/month. Students who choose to make semi-annual payments will receive a semi-annual discount of $150, so that the semi-annual payment will be $3,150. Students who make an annual payment will receive a $450 discount for the year, so that the annual payment will be $6,150. WISR's Board of Trustees has decided that modest tuition increases probably will be necessary annually. The Board will announce about May 1 of each year the tuition rate for the next fiscal year (July-June). Students will receive written notice of any changes of policies or tuition rates for the coming fiscal year, at least by June 1 of the previous fiscal year.

Upon enrollment, or re-enrollment in the case of students who have taken a break from their studies at WISR, a non-refundable $500 enrollment fee is due. Visa/Master Card Payments. Students may choose to pay their tuition by using their Visa and Master Card credit cards. Those wishing to make a credit card payment should contact WISR's President, either over the phone or on site at WISR. A student registers at WISR by signing a Tuition Contract and paying the necessary tuition and fees, and discussing initial study plans with a faculty adviser. Upon enrollment and thereafter at the beginning of each fiscal year (July 1), each student signs a Tuition Contract and Statement of Tuition Policies, of which s/he receives a signed copy, stating the obligations and commitments of the student and the Institute. If a student who is enrolled in June, at the end of a fiscal year, does not indicate the desire to withdraw and also does not sign a tuition contract for the coming fiscal year, the terms of the next year's tuition policies will still apply to that student. Students may always withdraw as of the following month after they have given written notice of their desire to do so. Students will also receive information about the State's Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) if that Fund is re-instated.

Click Here for Enrollment Agreement/Tuition Contract (doc) (pdf)

More about Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) may be found on pages 20 - 21 of the current catalogue.

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Student Responsibility to Maintain Good Standing in Tuition Payments: WISR expects students to stay up to date in their tuition payments in order to remain enrolled, or alternatively, to negotiate an acceptable payment schedule for becoming current within a reasonable time. Such repayment schedules are typically negotiated with WISR's Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. If the attempt to negotiate an acceptable payment schedule fails, or if the student does not adhere to the agreed on payment schedule, WISR has the right to disenroll the student until the student has become current in paying past due tuition and late fees. In any case, the Board may require that the student not re-enroll for a minimum of six months. Furthermore, a student may not schedule their Graduation Review Board meeting, if he or she has a past due tuition balance.

Other Tuition Policies:

Students enrolling after July are responsible only for a pro rata portion of that fiscal year's tuition, calculated in monthly increments, and students withdrawing or graduating before June are responsible for tuition only for the number of months during which they are enrolled. If a student withdraws from enrollment during a period for which tuition has been paid, s/he will receive a refund of any unused portions of tuition for that period, computed in monthly increments.

Students making monthly payments have until the end of the month to make their payment for that month without the payment being late. The first month in a fiscal year that a student is late in making their tuition payment, they will be assessed a late fee of $25/month. However, in any additional month(s) in that fiscal year in which a student is late or behind in their tuition payment(s), they will be charged a $50/month late fee.

A student may obtain a Leave of Absence for a major health emergency, family crisis, or other life crisis, but not simply for financial difficulties, work demands, or other normal life events. Requests for leaves of absence are submitted to the President for his or her approval, subject to Board review. If a leave is approved, the student is eligible to begin it two months after first applying for it, and for periods of three months at a $50 fee for each period. Leaves are renewable, and during a leave a student may attend seminars, but may not meet with his or her faculty adviser or receive credit for work performed during the leave period. Work performed during a leave is considered the same as prior experience, and is not eligible for credit as such.

A student may withdraw at any time, as of end of the month in which he or she gives notice of an intention to withdraw. A student who has withdrawn may apply for re-admission and re-enrollment after a waiting period of at least six months.

Tuition charges for students seeking to receive credit for only one or two independent study courses, for a single workshop, or for non-credit instruction: In most cases, students seeking to receive credit for a single class or two (of about two to four semester units each) shall be charged the $500 enrollment fee and two months' tuition for each class, except that if the scope of the class(es) and the demands on faculty and administrative time are likely to be notably higher or lower, the President has the discretion to negotiate an enrollment agreement with the student which is slightly higher or lower than this baseline. A student wishing to receive credit for an all-day seminar such as Child Abuse and Reporting will be expected to pay about $250. If a student wishes to have assistance in an ongoing project of some complexity such as a thesis or dissertation being pursued with another institution, then the student will be charged tuition for the number of months of primary service. However, if the project is substantial and labor-intensive for WISR faculty (such as critiquing drafts of a dissertation and/or helping with the design of thesis research) at least three months of tuition will most likely be charged. In any case, WISR's President will negotiate a tuition agreement individually with each special student not pursuing an entire degree program at WISR. The tuition agreement will be based on these guidelines, mindful of individual circumstances, and equitable in terms of tuition paid by other WISR students and institutional resources required. The agreed on tuition will be outlined in a signed enrollment agreement prior to instruction, so that the student will have a complete and clear advance disclosure from WISR as to the costs of instruction.

Financial Aid:

WISR students are not eligible for participation in any of the Federal Financial Aid programs, including the federally guaranteed loans for students offered through some banks. This is because due primarily to WISR's small size, WISR has been State-Approved rather than regionally-accredited. For the past seven years, with assistance from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, WISR has established a Revolving Loan Fund. WISR has enrolled over two dozen students through a loan program that defers $200/month of the participating students' tuition. Unfortunately, those funds are, for the time being depleted and committed to those students already participating in this program. In past years, a few students have been selected to participate in this program every June or July, and they pay $200 less than the regular monthly tuition (which is currently $550/month) while they are enrolled at WISR, and then pay back the $200/month (plus 5% per annum interest) once they leave WISR. Although the generous grants from the Goldman Fund have ended over four years ago, WISR continued to sponsor a few new participants until this past year--from our very limited institutional funds. As the current participating students finish their studies over the next several years, we may be able occasionally to enroll new participants to "take their place." Nevertheless, even if these opportunities arise in the future, only a few needy students with outstanding records of community involvement will be able to enroll each year in this program.

Click Here to View 2008-09 Enrollment Agreement Supplement/Tuition Contract for Continuing Students Participating in Partial Tuition Deferment Program (doc) (pdf)

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