University students can breathe a sigh of relief. Students taking 12 credit hours will maintain full-time status in the fall – regardless of their status under the “Fixed for Four” plan.

“You’re still considered a full-time student for financial aid, NCAA, insurance and all those things that others set the standards for,” John Millsaps, spokesman for the Board of Regents, said in a phone interview Thursday.

Confusion erupted after the Regents created a new tuition model for the University, which mandates a 15-hour tuition charge for full-time students.

The Red & Black spoke with sources, but the information available Tuesday and Wednesday was unclear of any changes to full-time status requirements for students.

Vice president for public affairs Tom Jackson said Wednesday that the “definition of a full-time student is going to be 15 hours.”

But on Thursday Registrar Rebecca Macon said the University will measure full-time status based on 12 credit hours. An e-mail was sent to University faculty and students explaining the changes.

“Hopefully this will alleviate concern,” Macon said in a phone interview Thursday. “We encourage everybody to register for 15 hours, but it will not be necessary to gain full-time status.”

Macon said the plan affects only undergraduates. Rates for the Graduate School will be on the Bursar’s Office Website next week, she said.

Millsaps said the Regents have no authority in setting full-time student status requirements, and the decision Tuesday affected only tuition rates.

“All we’re saying is we’re going to charge students for 15 hours,” Millsaps said Thursday. “It encourages students to take more than 12, but you’re still full-time if you take 12 hours.”

What this means is students will still be covered under insurance and scholarships if they decide to take 12 credit hours – but they will be paying for 15 hours.

Before the change, students taking 12 to 15 hours paid the same tuition rate – essentially giving students three “free” hours if they chose to take 15 hours.

The University and Georgia Tech are the only two institutions in the state on the new flat tuition model, which charges students a flat rate for credits up to six hours and credits more than six hours.

Concerned students contacted the Registrar’s Office and advisers on Wednesday for more information about the full-time requirements, but tricky wording and incomplete information caused confusion across campus about what the changes would mean.

Diane Miller, director of undergraduate services in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, sent an e-mail to the Grady listserv Wednesday.

The e-mail stated that the University had not yet been informed what the Regents’ decision meant and the Registrar’s Office was in the process of determining its affect on students.

“As soon as we have any information I’ll send it out on the listserv,” Miller wrote. “But in the meantime, the advisers and the Registrar’s Office don’t have any way to answer these questions.”

Students Thursday were relieved to hear the possibility of having to take 15 hours to maintain full-time status was not a reality.

“That is awesome,” said Kyle Morris, a freshman from Monroe, when he was informed that full-time requirements will remain at 12 hours.

“I was getting kind of concerned because sophomore year is going to be tough,” Morris said Thursday. “Taking 15 hours would mean having no life except studying, so I was definitely worried.”

Brittany Jones, who will be a fifth-year senior in the fall, was visibly distraught when she heard on Wednesday that she might have to take 15 hours in the fall to be considered a full-time student.

“I work full-time and it’s already hard to do 12 hours, much less 15,” she said Wednesday. “I go straight from school to work.”

Jones expressed comfort Thursday upon learning that she will not need to pick up an extra course.

“That is great,” she said. “That is just a giant relief, and it seems like that’s the way it should be anyway.”

But some students were frustrated with flat tuition and the notion of paying for more classes than they will be taking.

“I don’t think we should have to pay for hours we don’t take,” Branden Pollett, a freshman from Guyton, said Thursday. “I feel it’s just another way the University is taking my hard-earned money away.”

The new flat tuition model approved Tuesday charges in-state students not on the “Fixed for Four” plan $1,800 for up to six hours and $3,305 for more than six hours. Out-of-state students not on the “Fixed for Four” plan will be charged $7,200 for up to six hours and $12,140 for more than six hours.