Billing and Payment Policies
Tuition, Fees, Room, and Board
The College bills for tuition, fees, room, and board twice a year: in early July for the fall semester, and in late November for the spring semester. At the beginning of each semester, pending financial aid is allowed as a credit to the student’s account and is counted as payment until September 30 and January 31 for the fall and spring semesters, respectively. Students who have not completed all necessary paperwork to finalize pending aid by that time are required to pay in full. If financial aid is later reinstated, the student will be given a full refund of any credit balance. This refund is available by contacting the Business Office. The due dates for each semester are indicated on the student statements. Generally, the due date will be two to three weeks prior to the first day of classes.
Students who have not paid in full, or who have not made satisfactory arrangements to pay in full using financial aid or the Official Payments plan by the due date for the semester, will not be considered as having met their financial obligation. A late payment fee will apply, and the student may be removed from class and housing assignments if payment arrangements are not made by the due date.
Fees and other charges are due prior to the beginning of each semester and must be paid by the published deadlines. All checks in payment of College bills are to be made payable to Washington College.
Late Fee
The amount of the late payment fee is $200 on any balance of $2,000 or more for undergraduate students. A late fee is charged when a student:
has not paid their account in full or made payment arrangements by the officially posted due date for the current semester; or
has defaulted on a payment plan; or
has financial aid cancelled, in any manner.
Until this obligation has been met, students may not return to campus, attend classes, or obtain keys or a College ID card. Students may also be removed from class and housing arrangements. All students are required to complete the Financial Responsibility form found on the Student Web Advisor page under Financial Information.
Other Students Charges
The Business Office bills each month for fines incurred by the student. These include parking violations, library fines, Honor Board fines, residence hall damages, and other assessed charges. Before calling the Business Office, parents/guardians should first discuss questionable charges with the student and/or appropriate department head. Students are notified in writing when any fines are levied.
Residence hall damages are assessed after move-out and are billed by June 15. All charges are due upon receipt of the monthly Student Statement of Account. Any charge that is outstanding for more than 30 days may result in grades not being sent, transcripts of academic credit not being issued, a diploma not being issued, and pre-registration for subsequent semesters may be delayed.
Students may view their student account through the Washington College website using Student Self-Service.
Prepaid Debit Card System
The College uses Get.cbord.com, where students (and parents) can view and/or manage a student’s campus card account. It provides valuable information about account balances and spending history while enabling deposits to the campus card account using a credit card. Get.cbord.com is always on, and funds can be added anytime, day or night. The card can be used at retail venues throughout campus. Balances on the debit cards transfer from semester to semester and year to year. Balances for graduating seniors will typically revert to their College account the last week of May. Refunds for medical withdrawals must be approved by the Business Office, otherwise there are no refunds. Lost or stolen cards are reported by logging on to Get.cbord.com to submit a lost/stolen card report, which immediately removes all access and spending privileges from the card. The student will be instructed on what their next steps should be in order to obtain a new card. The link for Get.cbord.com is found on the Business Office website as well as the Student and Parent login pages on the College website.
Payments
Washington College Business Office accepts cash, cashier’s checks, traveler’s checks, wire transfers, and money orders for payment of student accounts. Personal checks are also accepted unless there has been a previous incident of a check returned for insufficient funds. When a check is returned for insufficient funds, there is a $25 return check fee assessed to the student account. Once an insufficient fund check has been returned on a student’s account, future payments must be made using another acceptable form of payment. Post-dated checks are not acceptable. Credit card payment for student account balances may only be made via the Washington College website with American Express, Discover, and MasterCard. There is a convenience fee for this service. E-check payment can be made via the Washington College website.
There is no fee for this service other than a $4.50 return ACH fee for incomplete payments due to invalid account number information. Should an E-check payment be returned for insufficient funds, the standard $25 return check fee will be charged. International fund transfers can be processed through the site located on the Business Office “Make a Payment” page.
Personal checks submitted for payments on student accounts must have the student’s College ID number written on the face of the check.
To insure against financial losses associated with medical withdrawals after the beginning of classes, all students are automatically enrolled in the DeWar tuition refund insurance for a premium of $162 per semester. Families who wish to opt out of this insurance coverage may do so in writing by sending an email including the student’s name and student ID number to [email protected] requesting cancellation of coverage. Details of the tuition refund insurance can be found on the Business Office webpage under Student Services.
Official Payments, in partnership with Washington College, offers tuition installment payment plans. Tuition and fees may be paid in five or four monthly installments per semester under these plans. Information about the Official Payments Monthly Installment Plan is available on the Business Office webpage. All payment obligations not included in the Plan must be paid in full by the due date for the semester. If Official Payments terminates the student’s plan for nonpayment, the student will be subject to a default penalty charge equal to the late check-in penalty.
Withdrawals and Refunds
Withdrawals and Refunds
All amounts paid to the College are refundable to the student unless they become non-refundable as set forth below. If a student withdraws from the College during a semester, the student will be responsible for all non-refundable amounts. When the student withdrawal results from a disciplinary action, regardless of the time of the withdrawal, all amounts paid to the College become non-refundable and the College makes no refund of any kind.
Tuition refunds or credits will be allowed according to date on which the student withdraws, as follows:
- before classes begin - 100% refundable;
- during the first two weeks of classes - 75% (25% is non-refundable);
- during the third week of classes - 50% (50% is non-refundable);
- during the fourth week of classes - 25% (75% is non-refundable);
- After the fourth week of classes - 0% (100% is non-refundable).
Fees are not refundable after the start date of the semester for which fees have been paid. Residence hall spaces are assigned for the academic year; therefore, no refunds or credits for rooms are given for a student withdrawing for any reason after classes begin. Board refunds or credits will be determined on a pro-rated basis to be calculated based on the date of the student’s withdrawal.
Students should contact the Financial Aid Office before dropping, withdrawing, auditing, or deciding not to attend a course to confirm how it will affect their financial aid. Students should also review both the Return of Title IV Financial Aid Funds (R2T4) and the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy to make an informed decision.
Students who decide to drop, withdraw, audit or stop attending a course, should be aware that it can reduce their financial aid eligibility depending on the type of aid, how many credits they are no longer attending, and the timing of when their enrollment changes. Students will be required to repay any financial aid that they are no longer eligible to receive and it can negatively impact their Satisfactory Academic Progress.