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The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and the National Association of College and University Business Officers have issued a joint statement defending, in some circumstances, the use of holds, which the statement defines as “a mechanism an institution employs to encourage a student to complete an action sought by the institution.” Holds have been controversial when they are used to block students from registering for courses because of an unpaid bill. The statement differentiates between holds that are motivated by “general guidance” on student success and those that are tied to an unpaid balance.
For the latter, the joint statement advises that “administrative-process-hold use should not be tied to trivial or minor debt, compared to the overall fees already paid to the institution by the student; consider establishing a payment-plan option for current students with outstanding balances and allow for the release of an official transcript, as long as the plan is current; maintain a debt-forgiveness program for nominal debts, where allowed by law”; and “allow a student to access an unofficial transcript, even with a hold in place.”
