Penny pinching can become a college student’s way of life given that tuition, meal plans, room and board, textbooks and plenty of other associated costs can cost a couple thousand dollars. This could make any additional or unexpected expense a bit of a burden. This has recently been the case for the students of Fort Valley State University. The institution re-enacted the campus requirement of students paying for laundry facility use after allowing students to wash and dry free of charge for the 2017- 2018 school year. The full school year of no charge usage was primarily due to the university’s transition from physical coin currency to a more up to date alternative.
In the 2018- 2019 academic year, Fort Valley State will not only require students and campus residents to pay for laundry cleaning, but a new payment method will also be taking effect. As stated in a notice to students on behalf of the university: “Fort Valley State University replaced the system that produces university identification cards and processes dining and vending purchases at the beginning of the semester.” Students will now have two methods of payment for campus commodities: Wildcat Cash and Dining Dollars.
Wildcat Cash is like a debit or prepaid card. A student can only use what they have available, meaning one must put money into the account in order to be given access. Students’ Wildcat Cash will be used to pay for laundry and later vending machines and campus dining venues. Dining Dollars come included with certain meal plans and can only be used for the dining venues.
Despite the recent change for a smoother process, the feedback from the on-campus students expected to pay for this change has been anything but a smooth transition. Many students have taken to various social media platforms to express their disagreement with the updates.
FVSU should let laundry be free regardless; tuition and the meal plan went up so why should we pay for laundry; I don’t get it! #FVSU
— Riah (@mariah_veal84) August 1, 2018
In addition to the laundry policy changes, students seem to be even more upset with the additional price increases within the school year’s tuition and room and board fees.
this wildcat cash to wash idea ain’t it #FVSU I think when we said we should use our ID we meant IT SHOULD’VE BEEN INCLUDED IN HOUSING 🤣 i’ve seen more people stress about washing their clothes more than their classes in just a few days 🤣
— rip dearious ✨ (@_fam0ussju) September 9, 2018
With no change in sight from Fort Valley administration, for now, students are forced to adapt to the new changes and price increases. With Fort Valley State University being a increasingly popular and changing institution, there’s no telling what the future could hold for the students and administration alike concerning their differences on the changes being made. For the time being, students can expect to simply be patient and wait for possible changes in the future, but rest assured the HBCU Pulse team will be the first source to provide updating coverage once it becomes available.
