Student told single penny could keep her from getting diploma. So she turns to TikTok
A 21-year-old Washington college student woke up to an email from her school saying she owed money.
If she didn’t make a payment, she’d owe late fees or worse — the school could withhold her diploma, according to the Feb. 3 email from Washington State University’s Bursar’s Office.
Katie Lane, a fourth-year student studying zoology from Everett, said the email had her thinking she owed the university thousands, she told McClatchy News by phone on Feb. 24.
But when she checked her account balance, she only owed a penny.
“I was initially very concerned because I thought something had gone wrong with my financial aid,” she said.
But Lane’s account didn’t explain what she owed the penny for.
“I’m aware that it’s an automated email, but it was definitely just a lot of confusion of why not just write the penny off?” Lane told McClatchy News.
Student shares story on TikTok
Lane reached out to the university, and then she turned to TikTok to share her experience because, she said, she finds “humor in very ridiculous things.”
The video has more than 400,000 views and thousands of comments.
“I’m panicking. What charge is this? How much is it? I have like $90 in my bank account. How am I going to pay this?” Lane says in the video.
Then she shows a screenshot of her balance owing one penny.
“Do you not think you could just let this one go? I guess I will enroll in a payment plan,” she jokes about one of the options shown on her account.
TikTokers had all kinds of suggestions for Lane.
“Do the payment plan, I want to see how this works out,” one person commented.
“Make sure to ask them to mail you a receipt,” another person said.
Others said they had similar experiences with their colleges.
“And I thought the email I got for 30 cents was bad,” someone said.
University looking into issue
As of Feb. 24, Lane hasn’t paid the penny, but she did talk to the university about waiving the fee. She said they are looking into the issue.
If the one cent charge doesn’t get waived, she said will walk into the Bursar’s Office with a penny to settle the debt.
“Paying by card online, there’s a $3 convenience fee. So I’d rather not pay 300 times the balance,” she said.
A spokesperson for Washington State University told McClatchy News by email there have been reports of other students getting automatic emails because of one cent balances.
The school is “working to correct the cause of that,” the spokesperson said. Any concerned students can contact the Bursar’s Office.
The university also said students would still get their degrees despite having an unpaid balance. However, they might not get their physical diploma if they have a balance over $5.
“Regardless, no WSU diplomas would be withheld as a matter of university policy for an unpaid balance of 1 cent,” the spokesperson said.
Washington State University is in Pullman, which is about 75 miles south of Spokane.
