The pink forms students use to add or drop a class after deadline will go from $10 to $75 next semester, a decision the Office of the Registrar hasn't publicized.
The new cards will be a lighter pink and will have slightly different information on them, said Paula Smith-Hawkins, supervisor for student records in the Office of the Registrar.
Smith-Hawkins said the office didn't announce the increase to avoid misdirecting students.
"We didn't want to confuse students who might be registering for classes over the winter break," she said. "We didn't want students worrying that they were going to have to pay more for them this semester and figured we would roll it out next semester."
Smith-Hawkins said UNM wants to discourage students from adding classes after deadline for financial reasons.
"The complications of the funding isn't my area of expertise, but I know that if you are registered after the census date, our institution loses funding," she said. "It hurts faculty, students and staff when that happens."
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On the third Friday of every semester, the University takes a census of how many students are attending which classes, and UNM receives state funding according to that data, she said.
If students drop or add courses after that, the University does not get funding for them.
Smith-Hawkins said the University lost money this way last year.
"I think we lost 2,400 hours, maybe even double," she said. "We processed 3,969 pink cards last year. If you are to process those classes - some being one credit, others being 12, but most being three credit hours - a person can find how much we have lost in just those cards."
She also said starting classes late is a hassle for teachers and professors.
Smith-Hawkins said there are exceptions to the price increase.
"If a student is changing a grade or auditing, for instance, the $10 will still apply," she said. "Also, if a student is changing section numbers of a class, the price will stay at $10."
Sophomore Traci Baumann said she disapproves of the increase in price and even more of the lack of publicity about it.
"I think it is ridiculous," she said. "I think that we shouldn't have to pay to change some things around, and to make that change without letting anyone know is absurd."
Freshman Charlie Ebbers, who has used a pink slip before, said the University isn't taking students into consideration.
"Sometimes you are forced into using those cards," he said. "It isn't fair to those who might not know what they want to do with their lives."
Vanessa Harris, director of University College Advisement Center, said it is important for students to register early and stay in the classes they sign up for.
Harris said students need to understand the importance of not having withdrawals on their transcripts.
"I think that this price increase may deter some people from filling out pink slips," she said. "I think that everyone should have good reasons for wanting to withdraw from classes, because when it comes to applying for a graduate program, a lot of withdrawals looks bad on an application."
Ebbers said students should have been invited to give feedback before the administration increased the price of pink slips. He said the unannounced change doesn't fit the University's goal of transparency.
"The fact that the price for switching things around late might be $75 instead of $10 is a problem," he said. "I figure that they should have told everyone before they went ahead and made the change. Students should have had a voice."
