Incoming freshmen for years have paid hundreds when law limits orientation to $35.

Students who attended the University of Florida over the last decade have been overcharged and steered into a freshman orientation program that generated millions of dollars for UF when cheaper options could have been available.

Records and archived web pages show UF officials billed students hundreds of dollars for "Preview," a costly and mandatory version of the university's new-student orientation.

UF officials said parts of Preview were optional, but former UF students who spoke with The Sun said they never had that impression. And UF documents from previous years refer to Preview as "mandatory."

“I remember all my friends, at like USF and other universities, didn't have to do all these things," said Olivia Maraj, a senior at UF. "They didn't have to stay on campus. I thought I had to."

State law mandates "an orientation fee in an amount not to exceed $35."

The Sun began requesting financial information relating to Preview earlier this year following a whistleblower's complaint sent to the governor's office and state Department of Education. The university then opened an investigation and said the requested records didn't exist. Costs for Preview were also deleted from the university’s website.

Since at least 2007, the university charged students for orientation at a rate three to five times higher than state law allows.

UF officials have confirmed they are conducting their own investigation to find whether the university overcharged students — for how long and by how much — beyond the $35 permitted. Spokesman Steve Orlando has acknowledged that UF's website was misleading, a problem he says has since been corrected.

"Over the course of this investigation, it came to our attention that we needed to increase the clarity and ease of our Preview registration program," Orlando wrote in an email. "Most specifically, the opt-in programming option. We immediately took action to revise the Preview registration process, increasing the simplicity of selecting various Preview options."

But students told The Sun they did not understand they had less-expensive options for Preview.

"I don’t think they ever made that an option," said Grace Genereaux, a UF junior. "I thought it was mandatory."

Orlando would not say if UF planned to refund students.

Like many colleges and universities around the country, orientation is a requirement for incoming students. But at UF, students paid more compared with other Florida public universities.

UF’s Preview is a two-day event for incoming students that includes information sessions, academic advising, a one-night stay in a dormitory, and at least one meal, according to archived UF webpages.

“It’s a way for us to set up incoming students for success and to ensure they have all the information they need to get started on the right foot,” Orlando wrote.

Other universities clearly delineate a basic orientation cost and other add-on costs for things like meals and a dorm. Up until the fall 2019 semester, UF did not.

Students who visited from out of town sometimes brought along guests or family members, adding to their bill. A Preview document obtained by the newspaper shows that 85% of participants brought two or more guests, which would have generated millions more for the university.

An archived version of UF’s orientation page shows students from 2014 to 2018 were each charged between $125 to $200. During that same time frame, nearly 33,500 students enrolled at UF.

Those students collectively paid more than $5 million for orientation, nearly $4 million more than had they been offered the $35 rate based on the cost of Preview for their incoming year. Additional guests — including parents who often paid $100 or more to attend — could've generated more than $7 million.

Junior Emily Fichera, a 20-year-old psychology major, said she doesn't remember UF giving her an option not to stay in a dorm. She said her parents reluctantly traveled to town with her, thinking she was required to stay overnight.

"(My dad) didn’t want to stay over if he didn’t have to, but we thought we had to," she said.

In 2007, incoming students were charged at least $90, nearly three times higher than the state's maximum orientation fee. The price has steadily increased since. In 2016, the university charged as much as $200, more than five times the state maximum.

It is unclear who at UF authorized the price increases.

The 6,512-member freshman class in 2014 alone, excluding guests who may have tagged along, would have generated about $1.1 million. Last year's 6,801-strong incoming class that participated in Preview paid another million dollars.

The Sun requested financial records related to Preview more than four months ago. Weeks later, administrators responded that no accounting for Preview existed at the time of the public records request due to "mishandling," but an investigation was proceeding to document them. Requests for preliminary results of that investigation have been denied and meeting requests have been delayed or canceled.

UF maintains that all funds were used appropriately.

“The university is in the final phases of the audit portion of the investigation,” Orlando wrote. “At this point, the audit has confirmed that all Preview registration monies were used for Preview and student programming."

After the university began its investigation, it changed how students were billed. Students now are given the option for a $35 orientation. If they choose, students can still buy the $150 full-orientation package, which offers a grocery list of activities, including a night in a dorm, meals, advising, a tote bag, magnet and a pencil.

The $35 option gives students an advising session and workbook packet. UF also offers hardship waivers to some students whose parents don't financially contribute to their college education, though waivers are limited.

Preview falls under the Division of Student Affairs at UF. Its top administrators, Vice President David Parrott and Associate Vice President Norbert Dunkel, both resigned earlier this year after a separate investigation found "improper financial administration." That investigation followed questions over $3 million in student construction projects.

Last year, the University of Central Florida came under scrutiny after allegations that it misused nearly $85 million, ultimately leading to the university's president resignation.