TAMPA, Fla. — A state agency found that Hillsborough Community College overcharged students who took online courses for years.
The Florida Auditor General's Office found that "Contrary to State law, College-reported distance learning course fee revenue for the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 fiscal years exceeded the additional costs of developing and delivering the courses by a total of $8.6 million."
State law allows colleges to charge students a “distance learning course fee,” but the amount of that fee cannot be more than the additional costs of developing and delivering the online course.
The Auditor General’s Office found Hillsborough Community College’s Board established a distance learning course fee of $14 per credit hour starting in Fall 2020, but the actual additional cost per credit hour was between $4.10 and $8.36 over the previous three fiscal years.
10 Investigates has been asking for an on-camera interview with HCC President Dr. Ken Atwater on the overcharging since November.
HCC ultimately turned down talking to us on camera, but their spokesperson Angela Walters Eveillard emailed us additional information about the situation.
She said the excess revenue was the result of higher-than-expected student enrollment in online courses.
“Before the pandemic shutdown, the college’s board of trustees approved the distance learning per credit hour fee, charging the college to build and implement a more robust distance learning department. The unexpected surge in demand for online courses during the pandemic expedited the growth plans of the distance learning department. However, the budget initially established for the expansion was based on pre-COVID demand estimates, leading to an overage and a need for adjustments,” Walters Eveillard said.
She said HCC is taking some steps to "right size" the budget, developing a database to monitor fee collection in real time to accurately account for online learning expenses.
Walters Eveillard said HCC may issue refunds in the future but did not commit to it.
“Operationally, the college is a year out of the pandemic and once we normalize our distance learning, if necessary, we will reduce the fee and/or issue refunds,” she said.