September is an important month for Washburn students. People are getting settled into their classes, the beginning of year chaos is beginning to subside and important deadlines are approaching. It can all seem overwhelming, but the university is here to help you as much as possible.

Friday, Sept. 2, marks the payment deadline for students to receive a 100% tuition refund on classes or to set up a payment plan. Students must have some sort of payment plan or their tuition paid in full before the deadline or they risk being charged a late fee.

After Friday, the tuition refund for classes that are dropped will reduce steadily from 100% to 0% as the semester moves forward. This means that if a student were to drop a class after this Friday, they would only receive a partial amount of their tuition money back compared to the full amount paid upfront for it.

“If you’re not in a payment plan and you do not have your balance paid, you may be assessed a late fee,” said Mary Schumacher, bursar of the business office.

This fee is calculated based on the amount of credit hours a student is taking. If a student is taking three credit hours or less, their late fee would be a one-time payment of $25. However, the fee goes up as credit hours increase. This means that if a student is taking 9.5 hours or more, the late fee is $100.

If a student cannot pay their tuition in full up front, Washburn does offer two payment plan options that can help them make smaller payments spread out across multiple dates.

“There is a three [month] payment plan that starts Oct. 3, and a four [month] payment plan that starts Sept. 6,” said Janene Freerksen, service advisor for Student One Stop.

The first option allows students to pay off their tuition in three installments, while the other offers payments that are less expensive by spreading the same amount over four months. The start dates of the plans are separated by a month. Both plans have a final payment deadline of Dec. 1st.

If students have any questions or concerns about their tuition status, what plan is best for them or if they wish to change their current plan, they can contact Student One Stop or the business office, which are both located in Morgan Hall.

Edited by Justin Shepard and Maggie Cabrera