tethered summer courses

Program leaders/academic units who offer a Spring residential course (typically 2 - 4 credits) plus an additional course during the summer that contains a travel component for that course, can consider offering a .25 credit tethered summer embedded travel course for a flat $200 course fee to make it more cost effective for students.

Please note: The $200 course fee is only applicable to .25 credit tethered courses. If an academic unit offers a Maymester travel course greater than .25 credits, tuition will be charged according to the Penn State tuition schedule based on the number of credits associated with the summer travel course.

In an effort to limit the financial burden for students participating in summer embedded travel tied to a Spring residential course, a task force was assembled last year comprised of representatives from Penn State Global, Registrar, Bursar, academic units, and faculty.

The task force launched a pilot program with select summer 2022 embedded programs to determine the feasibility of 1) designating .25 credits to the summer travel course and 2) assessing a flat rate of $200 for the .25 credits, in lieu of charging the regular summer tuition rate. The pilot program was a success and as a result, University leadership in Penn State Global, Registrar, and Bursar have approved the continuation of tethered credits for Summer 2023 embedded programs and beyond.

Program leaders/academic units interested in offering a tethered Summer embedded travel component must follow the considerations, process, and deadlines approved by university leadership outlined below:

course credits / course setup

• Residentially taught Spring embedded courses can be listed for the number of credits that is appropriate depending on contact hours, typically 2 – 4 credit hours. 

  • • Please note: The residentially taught course in the Spring semester will need to be assigned a WHOLE credit, and not a partial credit. The summer travel component course can be listed as a .25 credit summer course (required to be associated with a spring course).

• Academic units are responsible for setting up the LionPATH courses for both the Spring course (typically 2 – 4 credits) and the 0.25 credit Summer course. Consult with your department’s academic coordinator who assists with LionPATH course setup.

• It is up to the academic unit to determine how students should be enrolled in the .25 credit summer course (self-enrollment or enrollment by the department) and to confirm that each traveling student is appropriately enrolled in the .25 credit summer course.

• Academic units must submit the LionPATH Course/Class Fee Request Form to the Bursar’s annual January deadline. Refer to the Bursar’s email sent to unit financial officers each semester for the specific deadline.

• It is possible to use the same course number for both the spring and summer course, with only a change to the number of credits being 0.25 for the summer course. If that is not possible within your unit, it is recommended that the 0.25 credit course in summer term utilize the X97 (197/297) experimental course code already available to faculty. The X97 code allows a faculty member to run an experimental course up to twice without official course/Senate approval process.

• A suggested course description for the .25 credit course can be “Education Abroad Summer Semester Travel Tuition.”

budget considerations and course bursar fees

• A special “flat rate” cost of $200 will be associated with the 0.25 credit summer travel course. This represents a significant savings compared to the amount charged when students enroll in a 0.5 or 1 credit summer course at regular tuition rates.

• No student fees are tied to the .25 credit course as students do not utilize campus-based activities or facilities while abroad on the short-term program. However, students taking additional courses within the summer session will be assessed the student fee.

• Academic units are responsible for determining the cost center in their unit to collect the relevant fees.

• Each academic unit should submit an Item Type Request Form to the Bursar by the annual January deadline to create 2 item types (budgets) for the 1) collection of the program fee (if applicable) and 2) the .25 credit flat fee. This allows for flexibility if the program is cancelled, or a student withdraws. 

EXAMPLE:

• • • COMM 299 (class fee): $1200 program fee (i.e. covers housing, activities, transportation expenses)

    • COMM 197 (travel portion): $200 (flat-rate tuition for .25 credits)

• If a department does not charge a program fee (i.e. the College pays this on behalf of the students), then only the flat rate of $200 should be posted to the student’s Bursar account.

• If a program fee is collected in the form of a check or paid directly to a third-party provider or travel agency by the student, then only the flat rate of $200 should be posted to the student’s Bursar account.

• Each semester, the Bursar sends a reminder email to unit financial offices to review current fees and to submit new course fee requests. The Bursar email includes attachments to the abovementioned forms:

  • • LionPATH Course/Class Fee Request Form

    • Item Type Request Form

• Faculty leaders/academic units should consult with their unit’s Financial Officer to complete the course fee request and item type request forms for the tethered summer course.

• Submit the LionPATH Course/Class Fee Request Form to the Bursar by the annual January deadline by emailing feeassessor@psu.edu. Consult with your Finance office for the specific January Bursar deadline.

  • • The deadline corresponds to the date the enrollment shopping cart for Summer Session opens in LionPATH which ensures that the embedded travel fees are set up as the same time that the Bursar sets up traditional class fees.

    • The Course Class Fee Request Form is broken into two distinct sections: New Course/Class Fee and Change Existing Course / Class Fee. Depending on the type of request, all applicable boxes under that section should be filled out. You can ignore the Item Type Number box.

• Submit the Item Type Request Form to the Bursar by the annual January deadline by emailing feeassessor@psu.edu. Consult with your Finance office for the specific January Bursar deadline.

  • • The Item Type Request Form is broken into four distinct sections: New Non-FA Item Type, Change Existing Item Type, Accounting/General Ledger Information, and Inactivate Existing Item Type.

    •  Academic units should fill out the New Non-FA Item Type and Accounting/General Ledger Information with a valid SIMBA combination to where the income should be received.

• For questions, academic units/leaders can email the Bursar’s office at feeassessor@psu.edu.

  • • This is an internal email for faculty/staff to use. Please do not share with students.