NEIU students will be able to get refunded 100 percent of their money back instead of only 90 percent when a class is dropped for the first week of classes, according to an email from Acting Provost Dr. Wamucii Njogu and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services Janice Harring-Hendon.

The change will be implemented for the fall semester of 2018.

The Enrollment Management Council discussed a variety of enrollment enhancement initiatives last year that they “believe will reduce enrollment inhibitors for students,” as stated in the email.

These changes include the elimination of the 90 percent refund period and replacing it with a 100 percent refund period through the 10th day of the semester.

During this time, students will be allowed to register for courses with open seating, unless a registration authorization is needed for another reason.

Additionally, waitlisting classes that have open seats will extend through the first seven days of the semester.

“During the fall 2017 semester, there was extensive discussions concerning these administrative practices in the academic colleges,” the email stated. “The deans shared feedback from the faculty and department chairs with members of the Enrollment Management Council and Provost Council.

“In response to this feedback, it was determined that students registering after a course begins will receive a message letting them know that they are responsible for making up missed assignments and getting up to speed with the course.”

Lastly, work will be done to allow faculty the ability to authorize students in NEIUport.

These changes will be piloted for one academic year.

Freshman student Ana Costilla said, “I think this is a good idea because students will not be afraid to try out an extra class. Currently, a student has to decide between the first week if they like the class or not.”

“This encourages me to register for more classes instead of just two every semester. Because now I can try it out without feeling pressure to decide right away,” she said.

Junior student Enrique Costilla said, “It’s a good idea to extend the time period in which you can drop classes because, during the first week, student’s do not get a feel of the classes and this way it will be better so they can get the chance to register for another course.”

Open registration for all classes will occur on March 17. For fall 2018, students will have the enrollment period of Sept. 1 to Sept. 10 to decide whether they want to keep or drop classes and will be fully refunded if the class is dropped.