Bill Spotts used to work 80 hours a week in a group home, and he filled in the remaining hours taking classes at Penn State.

The 33-year-old Spotts (senior-human development and family studies), now a full-time student, said most adult students like himself have to schedule classes around their work schedules.

"It would be really hard for other people if they had to juggle a family and a job," Spotts said.

Such was the case with Spotts three years ago, when he registered at the university late because he had to wait for a class to open in order to fit it into his busy workweek.

He later found out he was charged a $10 fee on his semester bill for late registration.

If Spotts or any other Penn State students register late this year, the fee is much larger than $10.

A new late registration policy, which includes an extended deadline and a significant fee increase, becomes effective this fall.

Students who register at the university late will be charged a $250 fee the first day of the late registration period, said Karen Duncan, senior associate registrar.

Duncan said a student will only be considered a late registrant and charged the late fee if he or she has not initiated registration by Friday. Initiation requires scheduling a course at the university.

At any time during the semester, students may schedule a class; however, any student who chooses to do this after Friday will incur a $250 fee.

"As long as you have [registered] and scheduled one course prior to the late drop you will not be charged the late fee," Duncan said.

Jim Wager, assistant vice provost for enrollment management and university registrar, said the decision to change the late registration fee and deadline was made in early June by the Office of the Registrar, Office of the Bursar and the Office of Student Aid. The final approval came from the controller's office.

Duncan said the new policy was implemented for a few reasons, one being the fee had not been raised in 20 years. With the old policy, the $10 fee was often waived, she said. The increase in the fee is a way to encourage students to initiate registration prior to the first day of classes.

The new policy is not meant to penalize students but to prevent students from missing valuable class time, Duncan added.

Duncan said the new policy would not affect most undergraduate students, since they are already registered and have scheduled classes. Instead, the new late registration fee and deadline is targeting students with other circumstances, such as adult students or transferring students.

"This is really a small population we're trying to address," Duncan said.

Spotts said he felt the $250 late fee would be more discouraging to adult students than providing a solution to the problem. He added that it is unfair for the university to "tack on" another fee.

Instead, Spotts said the $250 fee would "steer away some adult students" and make them sign up for classes that are not relevant to their majors just to fill up a class and avoid being charged.

He said he felt that if a student were set to register late and then found that he or she would be charged $250, they would wonder, "Why bother?"

Eric Berlin (sophomore-recreation and park management) and his friend Nate Lehman (sophomore-mechanical engineering) both said the late registration fee could be set at a more reasonable cost.

"I feel it might be effective because it gives them an extra 'oomph' to do it, but I feel $250 might be too much," Berlin said.