Billing for Tuition and Fees
The Bursar is responsible for collecting payments for tuition and fees at Baruch College. Questions related to these bills should be initially handled by the Bursar Office. Please contact or visit the office for more information- Employer Sponsored Plans and Third Party Vouchers
- Disputing Tuition Charges
- Tuition Deferments
- Loss of Financial Aid During the Semester
- Return of TITLEIV Financial Aid Award
- Residency Deferments
- TAP College Code Errors
- New CUNY Policy Regarding Collection Agency Costs
Employee sponsored plans and third party vouchers
When an employer is paying for a student through tuition sponsored program or another organization is promising to pay for a student, Baruch will defer the student's tuition and fee balance up to the amount stated on the document. The student must have a voucher or letter on the organizations letterhead, stating the name and social security number, semester and amount they are willing to pay. Baruch College does not accept any document for an organization that states they will pay the tuition based on the grade the student receives at the end of a semester. Students must present the documents when making payments. These vouchers/letters must be presented on a semester basis, even if the document states that the organization will pay for multiple semesters. The document must be dated during the same time period as the semester it will be used.
Appeal process for disputing tuition charges
In instances related specifically to registration billing and penalty issues, if a student feels that the school charged them incorrectly or they were penalized unfairly they can appeal the charges. These cases usually relate to dropping of courses (and the penalties associated with dropping after the first day of classes) as well as the billing status (resident versus non-resident) of a student. The student must put their complaint in writing (with all documentation that reinforces the students reasons for appeal) and present the information to the Registrar's Office. All complaints are discussed at regularly scheduled refund committee meeting where each case is approved or disapproved by the committee. The Registrar's Office will contact the student and inform them of the result of the committee review.
Tuition Deferments
During registration, students can request a partial deferment of their tuition charges. After registering, please check the schedule of classes for your registration due date. Students can request a deferment during our registration payment periods (January for Spring, May for Summer and August for Fall semesters). During registration payment periods, the college staff who can grant deferments are located in the Lobby of the 151 East 25th street (Library) building. During registration payment periods, the hours of operation are 9:15AM through 6:00PM, Monday through Thursday and 9:15AM through 4:45PM on Friday.
When requesting a deferment, students are required to pay 50% of what they owe (cash due on Registration Bill) for tuition and fees for the semester in question. Students can access E-SIMS to find out their account balance since bills are no longer mailed to students. Financial Aid Awards cannot be used to satisfy the 50% payment requirement. Students will be given a due date and required to sign a deferment agreement. Students will bring the signed agreement to the Bursar's Office to make the initial partial payment. All students who have requested a deferment and incur additional charges after the registration payment period has ended (first week of classes), will have until 30 days after the first day classes at Baruch to pay off the new outstanding balance that was not covered by the original deferment request. Once the payment is made the student will receive a billing notice via the student's college issued e-mail account. If the remaining balance is not paid by the due date on the deferment agreement, a Bursar Stop and a $15 late fee will be placed on the student's account. For students who are making a payment after their agreed upon due date, the Bursar Stop will be cleared within two business days after making payment.
Loss of financial aid during the semester
Some financial aid like the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) is based on an estimate that is not guaranteed at the time of registration and is usually finalized once New York State has made the TAP payment. Students must fulfill various academic requirements as well as financial requirements (income levels) that are reviewed during the course of the student's attendance at Baruch. The problem occurs because the student is given credit for the award against their tuition charges even though the student may lose the TAP award at a later date. When the student loses the TAP award the Bursar must bill the student to so that the outstanding tuition balance is paid. This doesn't happen at the most opportune time for some students, nevertheless, the student is still required to pay his outstanding balance. When you factor in the possibility that a student can lose the TAP award in a current semester based on academic and administrative issues that happened in previous semesters, a student's financial status is dynamic at best.
In the case of federal aid (PELL, Guaranteed Loans, etc.) the awards are based on financial need and the amount of credits the student is registered for. Unlike TAP, the original federal aid award that a student is entitled to is not taken away during or after the semester, students can lose their Financial Aid if they drop some or all of their classes or the student's does not maintain the required grade point average to be eligible for Federal Aid. Once again, a student can lose aid in a current semester due to a problem in a prior semester.
Changes in all financial aid can be caused by changes in the classification of a student (resident versus non resident or foreign). Any of these changes may not happen until after a student has received financial aid or used the aid to pay his tuition. Therefore, a student may receive a bill from the Bursar stating that they have to repay the aid they received back to the school (in the case of complete withdrawal) or pay outstanding tuition charges the student owes due to loss of financial aid that was previously applied to their tuition and had to be returned to the specific financial aid program.
Return of Financial Aid AwardWhen a student drops out of school completely and was awarded financial aid, Baruch is required to perform a calculation that determines how much of the aid a student is still entitled to. The amount is calculated based on the actual number of days a student attended a semester. Once we have determined what a student is entitled to (whether it was paid to the student or to the school for tuition) we have 30 days for the date a student withdrew to return the funds to the federal program (PELL, SEOG, etc.). At that point we must bill the student for the amount of financial aid that Baruch returned for the student and any outstanding tuition charges the student owes because the student lost the financial aid that was originally paying the student's bill. The bottom line is that students who receive financial aid should speak with a financial aid counselor before withdrawing from school completely.
Residency Deferments
CUNY requires that every student that is admitted to Baruch for the first time or is returning after skipping a semester must prove that they have lived in New York State for the past year from the semester they are entering. Once a student drops off the various documents that are required at the Admissions Annex (137 east 25 street), the student is entitled to a deferment that is equal to the difference between the in-state tuition and the out-of-state tuition. During registration payment periods, the deferment will be processed in room 107 of the Newman Vertical Campus. The Bursar Office will process the deferment during non-registration payment periods. Once the student's residency is approved, the deferment will be reversed. If the student's residency is not approved, the student will be liable for the amount that was deferred. Please make duplicates of all documents handed in so that they are readily available if needed again.
TAP College Code Errors
When a student fills out his financial aid application, which includes the New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), the student is required to supply the “College Code” for the schools they may attend. The problem occurs when the student does not attend the school they listed as their first choice. The college code for Baruch College is 1409 and 5645 in the case of a graduate student, when the student receives a statement verifying that they are entitled to TAP from the New Your State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) the student must make sure the college code matches the school they are attending (in this case Baruch College) and return the form indicating the correct code (1409). The student is the first person that can catch this type of problem. If the student does not correct the code, the TAP Award will never be paid to the school to pay for the student's tuition. The Bursar Office does not have the information related to the application process, however, the Bursar Office is working on ways to try and inform the students that their college code may be incorrect. To make matters worse if the college code is not corrected within 1 year for the semester in question, the student can never be entitled to the TAP Award for that semester. You can correct your college code change by calling (888) NYSHESC.
New CUNY Policy Regarding Collection Agency Costs
If you do not make full payment on your tuition and fees and other college bills and your account is sent to a collection agency, you will be responsible for all collection costs, including agency fees, attorney fees and court costs, in addition to whatever amounts you owe the college. Students who have their accounts sent to Baruch's collection agency must pay the collection agency directly. Payments will not be accepted at the Bursar Office.
In addition, non-payment or a default judgment against your account may be reported to a credit bureau and reflected in your credit report.
