Long Beach City College has now made the process of printing entirely cashless, when it should be inclusive to students who carry cash, not just those who have a credit or debit card.
The change was recently implemented in August of this year and is one of the only methods to print on campus.
In several locations such as the Math Success Center and the library, printing requires manual card entry or funds accessed by the WEPA app.
The WEPA app is an application that allows you to directly login to a printer and upload a file you want to print by tapping your phone on the designated area on the printer.
In order to print, the app requires the user to load a minimum of $5 in funds from a credit or debit card despite the cost of printing only being between 10 to 72 cents.
This process disregards those who don’t have a credit or debit card, because some students can be working jobs that only pay them in cash, excluding them from printing on campus entirely.
The new system requires students to pay a $5 fee upfront which forces them to spend the $5 or not use the printer.
The old system did not have a fee requirement and students were able to pay only for the pages they needed without the fee.
If students can’t use the app, the printer allows users to login manually by entering their card number, however it charges an extra 20 cents per transaction or a deposit of $5 to avoid the extra 20 cent fee if you pay through entering your card manually.
Another way the students can print is by logging into the WEPA website however the $5 first-time fee is still required.
There are professors on campus that still make physical copies of assignments a requirement so having extra fees does not create printing more accessible for students.
Printing should be inclusive to those who use cash, simplifying the process and making it more affordable for students.