Joliet Junior College wants to instill a fee for students taking classes for dual credits.

The fee would be “as small as possible,” as to “be able to provide [dual credit] to as many students as possible,” Adam Depew, English teacher, said.

The proposed fee was discussed at a board of education meeting on Sept 24. The speaker who brought forward the issue said JJC stated it wanted to follow the trend other colleges were setting.

The board stands against the proposed fee, with all the members voting against it. The board commented that offering dual credits is a great service to students, and they do not see how any fee will benefit students or the district. JJC lacked answers of what they would do with profit made off the proposed fee. One board member went as far as to call the fee a “cash grab.”

Nicole Zaknoun, junior, believes a fee would affect the number of people who take dual credit courses because students take them to save money.

“I don’t really like [it] because the whole point of taking those classes [is so] you don’t have to take them later in college,” Zaknoun said.

Senior Isabel Prado said paying for college credit is nothing new, but the fee is still shortsighted. Prado said the fee probably would impact the number of students who take dual credit courses.

“They [won’t] think the fee is worth the class,” she said.