Print allocation for full-time, part-time and graduate students dropped by 86% this semester, from $75 last spring to $10 this fall.

According to the WKU website, WKU’s goal is to reduce wasteful and abusive use of lab printers. 

Jace Lux, director of media relations, said this looks like a pretty drastic reduction but really most students didn’t use that full allocation as digital storage became more popular.

“There was a very small minority of students that printed far more than they needed to and it was resulting in a lot of waste,” Lux said. “So this is an opportunity for us to practice a little more sustainability and environmental responsibility.”

Anisa Bobzien, a junior communications major from Louisville, said this is an inconvenience to students considering many have multiple classes they may have to print for. 

“WKU knew we were transitioning back to in-person classes, so why only allow each student $10 for printing when in previous years it has been $75,” Bobzien said. “There are many more classes that are moving to in-person, which means professors might require more printed homework and assignments.”

If a student’s print funds run out, they will have to visit the ID center or visit Topnet to add money to their account. Any unused funds will not roll over to the next year’s allocation. 

“WKU has expressed their understanding of the increased financial burden, not just in our generation but during the pandemic, but how can they say they understand that we are struggling financially if they are adding to our list of things to buy,” Leilani Lei-Sam, a junior nursing major from Elizabethtown said. 

The cost per black and white page is 10 cents and 50 cents per color page; double-sided printing is counted as two pages. 

“Our professors are unaware of the limit we have and are giving us 10 plus pages to print out, which is an inconvenience,” Lei-Sam said. 

Some WKU professors, like assistant professor and creative writing advisor Jessica Folk, have considered printing limitations and are assisting their students by letting them submit homework online and printing out assignments for them. 

WKU recommends students print specific page ranges, ask their professors if work can be submitted online and reduce the size of text in order to fit more on a page to help with the reduction of printing. 

“When the time comes for us to print out our assignments, email it to me and I will print it out for you,” Folk said.

News reporter Genesis Malone can be reached at [email protected].