A college student was hit with a mammoth $84,000 fee to access any information regarding an ongoing investigation at his school.
The student had requested a series of documents from Grand Valley State University in Michigan under the Freedom of Information Act.
These documents related to an ongoing investigation within the school after he’d filed two complaints against a University administrator.
He hoped the documentation he received under the FOI request could bolster his case. But the school said it would cost $84,000 just to access the information.
The student’s mother, Carrie Uthe, said: ‘They did give us a documentation to show that breakdown, but that still made no sense’
Grand Valley State University issued a statement to WZZM which stood by the exorbitant cost of the service.
‘Grand Valley used its normal process in calculating the fee for this request,’ a spokesperson said.
‘The request is very broad and would involve more than 59,000 emails over a specified period.
‘Fulfilling the request would require a qualified employee to sort through each individual email and attachment to search for and redact protected and personal information.’
The school said it would cost $84,000 just to access the information
The student had requested a series of documents from Grand Valley State University in Michigan under the Freedom of Information Act
Under the Freedom of Information Act, any member of the public can request information from federal agencies.
There are no fees to request, but sometimes there can be associated costs with finding the necessary documents.
The student’s mother, Carrie Uthe, said: ‘They did give us a documentation to show that breakdown, but that still made no sense.’
‘Our son is just trying to have his voice heard and the right people to be addressed in their behaviors that are poor choices that they’ve made.’
