The 14,000 City College students who enrolled in their fall classes before July 28-and haven’t paid their extra fees-owe the college an extra six bucks per unit.

If they don’t pay by Oct. 23, they will face stiff penalties.

On July 28, the California Legislature increased the enrollment fee for all California community college’s from $20 a unit to $26 per unit.

Although the college has agreed not to drop anyone because of non-payment, if students don’t pay the fee increase by Oct. 23 a hold will be placed on their records and they will be unable to register for spring classes.

“The fee increase wasn’t a big deal for me,” said Alan Dowdall, a sophomore environmental studies major. “I paid it right away, but I had no idea the school could freeze my transcripts and keep me from transferring.”

Potential transfer students may have the most at stake because they face Nov. 30 deadlines for filing complete applications to the UC and Cal State campuses. That includes a copy of their SBCC transcript.

“A lot of people think that because they paid earlier that they’re not responsible for paying the fee increase,” said City College cashier Barbara Kindron.

It may not seem fair, but students should know the state of California reserves the right to change fees at anytime. With California’s catastrophic accumulation of debt resembling a nuclear meltdown, the Legislature exercised that right this summer.

The college is offering several payment options for students.

To pay online log into your Pipeline account http://pipeline.sbcc.edu and select “My Class Schedule and Bill.”

The additional fees can be paid by Visa, MasterCard, or WebCheck. To pay by mail, check your Fall 2009 schedule via Pipeline and send a check for the fee difference to: Santa Barbara City College Attn: Cashiers Office, 721 Cliff Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93109.

Be sure to include your name and student I.D. number. To pay in person, visit the campus cashier’s office. They will accept cash, check or Visa/MasterCard.

It should be noted that students currently receiving the Board of Governors Fee Waiver for 2009-2010 do not need to do anything. If students have already been approved for a fee waiver it will automatically be increased to cover the change in enrollment fees.