University threatens to withhold student’s diploma over unpaid bill of 1 cent

A student left viewers stunned on TikTok after revealing that her university threatened to withhold her diploma because she didn’t pay her balance of 1 cent.

In a viral video, a college student explained that she received an email from Washington State University’s bursar’s office about an outstanding balance on her account.

“Nonpayment of this balance may result in late payment fees as well as registration and/or diploma holds,” the email warned.

The student, Lantie, expressed her horror in the video, saying: “That’s terrifying! I’m panicking! What charge is this? How much is this? I have like $90 in my bank account, how am I going to pay this?”

However, the situation quickly turned out to be comical, as she revealed that the outstanding balance was just $0.01.

“Do you not think you could just let this one go?” Lantie said sarcastically. “I mean, I guess I’ll enroll in a payment plan. I have a penny just laying around. I’ll walk in person and give it to them.”

The email shocked some TikTok users in the comments, but many shared their own stories of being threatened over small amounts of money.

“I had a $2 fee and was panicking because they said my classes would be dropped,” one user shared.

“They charged me $25 because I had an ‘unpaid balance’ it was 0.28 cents,” another wrote.

“And I thought the email I got for 30 cents was bad,” a third added.

Others made light of the situation, with one user jokingly suggesting that Lantie should ask for a receipt after paying the balance, writing, “Make sure to ask them to mail you a receipt.”

Another user said, “Just show up with a 100 dollar bill and watch them struggle to count the change.”

Previously, a TikToker went viral after sharing a similar experience where his university kept emailing him about a $1.96 unpaid bill.