New pay-to-print system for students

Update | Monday, August 23, 2021

Beginning Autumn Semester, Columbus State is transitioning to pay-per-page printing/copying for students. The decision follows the research of policies at other community colleges in Ohio.

Each semester, the College will provide students with a balance of $10 for general-use printing. (The balance is reset to $10 each semester, regardless of how much was used the previous semester.)

Black-and-white copies will be five cents per page, allowing for 200 copies. Color copies will be 10 cents per page. Black-and-white standard-size (8.5 x 11) copies will be five cents per page. Color copies and tabloid size (8.5 x 17) will be 10 cents per page. A standard two-sided copy, which saves paper, will cost 8 cents.

To phase in this new plan for Autumn Semester, students will initially have automatic overdraft protection. Each student will have $10 of overdraft protection, allowing for an additional 200 copies. The college will be able to increase the overdraft limit beyond that amount for individual cases.   

Starting in Spring Semester, the Information Technology department will have the ability to approve additional print credits beyond the $10 limit for any students requiring a larger-than-average amount of copies due to academic requirements. Students will also be able to purchase a print card in the Bookstore, similar to a gift card. Various denominations will be available, from $5 to $20.

Employees will not be charged for printing/copying. However, because of this system change, employees will see job costs and a balance of zero on certain devices. Again, employees will not have balance limits and will continue to access free printing. Job costs are presented for informational purposes only.

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