According to Archie Graham, Director, Student Life, students who are enrolled in more than six credits (6.1 or greater) at MATC will now be eligible for the UPASS. However, student’s six credits or under cannot get it at all. The UPASS can be used for the Milwaukee County Transit system “24-7 from the day they get it, which would be August 18 all the way to Jan. 19, 2009,” Graham said. However, he added, “(Students) will have to show the campus ID card with the UPASS.”

Eligible students will receive a notice in the mail, to inform them where to pick up their UPASS.

Graham stated the location would be the campus closest to the student. “After mid-September, students will have to pick up their UPASS in the library,” Graham said.

Once the UPASS is issued, “(the student) will sign for it, and we will record it in our system that they have it,” Graham said.

But if they lose it, they will have to pay the $41 replacement fee. “It is nonrefundable, nontransferable,” he said. In the future Graham plans to mail the UPASS to students’ homes.

For the first 30 days, MATC will have transit people at each campus to help students navigate bus routes, Graham stated. There are buses available to take students to every MATC campus. Examples include: the 43U, which goes to Mequon from 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Mon.-Fri.; or the Ozaukee Express, for students from the north.

“There is a link on MATC’s Web page for students to get bus maps,” Graham said.

According to Graham, students decided who should be

eligible for the UPASS. They believed that part-time students wouldn’t have as much need for the UPASS as full-time students, who attend more classes.

The students concluded it would be more effective financially if every student pay a $2.72 per credit transit fee, even if they don’t qualify.

So, students not eligible for the UPASS are still required to pay this fee.

Without this in place, qualifying students would’ve had to pay $41. Now, a student with 12 credits pays only $32.64, saving $8.36. However, even the non-eligible students are still receiving benefits, according to Graham.

One benefit includes the parking fee dropping substantially from last year’s $40 per semester cost. Now, parking costs $20 per semester, or $30 when both semesters are purchased together. That’s a savings of $20 per semester, or $50 when bought together.

Another benefit “is that when more people ride the bus, the easier parking could be for those who drive,” Graham added. The relief an eligible student and non-eligible student receives seem to balance. The students who have the UPASS may still get the parking deal, but are less likely to, due to using the bus.

According to Graham, this fee has already upset some people. But the $2.72 is not MATC’s only fee; there are other fees students pay. However, Graham stated, those fees make MATC able to “enhance (students’) education experience.”

MATC is not alone; charging fees are commonly done at all colleges. Each college has fees for various services, as they’ve deemed necessary.

Graham stated that MATC is “joining an elite family of schools.” He said that he was hoping that in the future, the schools and the County Transit System can work together to provide services better suited for students’ needs.