Policies and Procedures

Your registration is not considered officially complete until all tuition, housing, meal plan charges, and associated fees are paid in full. The only exception applies to students who have enrolled in and remain current with the University’s monthly payment plan.

Please review USD’s accepted payment methods to ensure your account is settled in accordance with University policy.

Quick Reference: Important Deadlines & Payment Rules

Cancellation of Classes

The University reserves the right to cancel a student’s registered classes if their balance is not paid in full by the applicable deadlines for the Fall (August) and Spring (January) semesters, or if they fail to remain current on their University monthly payment plan.

• Late Registration: If you register for classes after the official payment due date, your account is considered past due immediately. To avoid the cancellation process, late notices, and additional fees, you must pay your account in full or sign up for a monthly payment plan as soon as possible after registering.
• Late Fees: A monthly interest late fee of 0.8333% will be imposed on all accounts not paid by the deadline listed in the Academic Calendar. This rate is calculated by dividing the 10% APR by 12 months.
• Notification: Students at risk of cancellation will be notified via email regarding their outstanding balance and provided with a final deadline to resolve the balance before cancellation occurs.

Proactive Communication: To avoid the risk of cancellation, please contact Student Accounts immediately at 619-260-4561 or studentaccounts@sandiego.edu if you anticipate difficulty making a payment so we can discuss available options.

Consequences of Cancellation

If your classes are canceled for non-payment, the following conditions apply:

• Academic Access: You are not permitted to attend classes and will lose all access to Canvas course materials.
• Campus Housing: Residential students must move out of campus housing immediately, as continued residence is strictly contingent upon active enrollment.
• International Students: If you hold an F-1 or J-1 visa, cancellation will affect your immigration status. You must contact the International Center immediately to discuss visa implications and required next steps.
• Financial Aid: Students should contact the Office of Financial Aid to understand how cancellation affects their eligibility, awards, or disbursements. Law students should contact their respective Law Financial Aid Office.
• Financial Liability: If you do not return to your studies during the semester your registration is canceled, you remain responsible for 50% of the semester’s tuition and 100% of all student and course fees per the Tuition Refund Schedule, in addition to any other outstanding account charges. For undergraduate students, post-cancellation tuition liability is calculated based on the number of enrolled units at the time of cancellation rather than the undergraduate block tuition rate. For example, a student enrolled in 18 units who is canceled for non-payment with a 50% tuition liability would be assessed 50% of the per-unit tuition charges for 18 units based on the applicable academic year tuition rate.
• Academic Impact: Students whose registration is canceled for non-payment and who do not return to their studies during the semester will receive a grade of “W” on their transcript for all canceled courses.

Reinstatement Process

To be reinstated in your courses, the following requirements must be met:

1. Full Payment: The total outstanding balance must be paid using approved funds only (cashier’s check, money order, cash, or bank wire transfer). No other payment methods will be accepted for reinstatement.
2. Financial Aid Verification: For financial aid recipients, all pending aid must be fully certified, eligible for disbursement based on federal and institutional requirements, and sufficient to cover the remaining balance.
3. After payment (or certified aid) is confirmed, you must obtain approval from your College or School’s Dean’s Office to confirm academic eligibility for reinstatement.

Please note: If all of your instructors do not approve your reinstatement, or if more than two weeks have passed since your last date of attendance in your courses, the Dean’s Office will not approve reinstatement for the semester.

If you do not return this semester, you will remain responsible for 50% of Spring tuition and fees per the Tuition Refund Schedule, in addition to any other outstanding account charges. To avoid further collection activity, you must contact Account Resolution to establish a repayment plan.

Readmission to the University is contingent upon payment in full of all outstanding account balances.

Contact and Support

For questions regarding your account or to discuss payment options, please contact us:

• Email: studentaccounts@sandiego.edu
• Phone: 619-260-4561 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
• In-Person: Torero Hub, Room 126, University Center
  • Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
  • Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Assigned Advisor: You may also contact your assigned Torero Connect Counselor (TCC) for further assistance.

Hold Overview

Holds are placed on student accounts by a variety of offices with a wide range of impacts. Typically, students are most impacted by holds that prevent enrolling and/or dropping courses until the hold is lifted.

Students can check for holds by logging into their MySanDiego Portal and navigating to Torero Hub > My Academics and going to "Check for Holds."

Why a Financial (Student Account) Hold is Placed

As a student, you may be prevented from registering if you have not met your financial obligations related to attendance at the University of San Diego. To view your current charges and account balance, log into your MySanDiego Portal and navigating to Torero Hub > My Student Account page.

A financial hold may also be placed on your student account, even if your financial aid is enough to cover the balance, due to additional fees that cannot be paid using Title IV funds. These fees include charges such as those for the bookstore, library, parking and insurance. Federal regulations require student authorization to use federal aid funds to pay for these types of fees. Without this authorization, USD cannot apply federal aid to cover them. Learn more about Title IV authorization.

Types of Holds

Financial (Student Account) Hold

Students are personally responsible for making sure that tuition and required fees, and any other fees or charges, are paid on time to the University of San Diego, regardless of who funds the education.

This applies to charges for tuition and required fees, but also can include additional course or activity fees, payments for housing or dining, payment for items damaged (housing and facilities), parking citations, identification cards, items purchased at the bookstore, etc.

Students with financial holds:

• Will be restricted from services, including but not limited to: adding and/or dropping classes and registering in future semesters.
• May be dropped from current courses if tuition and required fees remain unpaid after the initial payment due date for the semester. Learn more about the course cancellation for non-payment policy.
• Must immediately pay the account balance in full, or the past-due installment payment, to be eligible to register. Payments made on accounts that result in a zero balance will be removed automatically.
• When making past-due installment payments that do not result in a zero account balance, the student must contact Student Accounts for the hold to be removed manually.

It's important to keep in mind that although charges may not have been billed or are not past due, they may prevent registration. For example, personal charges such as a parking citation, a check payment returned from the bank, or a reversal of financial aid that was used to cover registration expenses will result in a student account hold if it appears on the student’s account after the initial payment due date for the semester. Although these charges may prevent registration, they will not accrue late interest until after the due date.

Students should regularly review their account balance by logging into their MySanDiego Portal and navigating to Torero Hub > My Student Account page, then finding “Recent Activity - Transactions Posted After Last Statement” located directly above the monthly billing statements. Students can view and pay online through My Online Student Account link in the portal. Payments may also be made in person at the Torero Hub (Hahn University Center, Room 126) or the Cashier's Office (Hughes Administration Building, Room 211). Cash payments are only accepted at the Cashier's Office.

Students who have an overdue balance will have a financial hold placed on their academic records until there is a zero balance. The registration hold restricts the student from receiving some University services, including the ability to add or change enrollment or move off a waitlist.

Other Common Holds Related to Financial Obligations

There are other common holds that may appear that are related to a student’s financial obligations. Students should contact the respective office listed in Other Financial Holds for information about how to clear the hold. For holds with a Y indicated in the "Application" column, that hold also restricts a prospective student from applying to a new academic program.

Payment must be received, not postmarked, by the close of business on the payment deadline date. Failure to make acceptable payment arrangements or failure to appropriately defer payment based on certified USD financial aid prior to these deadlines may result in the assessment of a .833% monthly interest late payment fee, cancellation of current course enrollment, diploma release, and future course enrollment privileges.

It is important to note that fees associated with any schedule adjustment made prior to the tuition payment deadline are due on the published deadline, whether or not a billing statement has been received. If you make a schedule adjustment or incur other charges after the initial billing period, you should verify your new account balance via the USD MySanDiego Portal and inform the responsible billing party of the change. Fees associated with schedule adjustments made after the published payment deadline must be paid in a timely manner to avoid the assessment of a .833% monthly interest late payment fee.

Any student on a payment plan who has paid after the 1st of each month or missed their payment due date will be assessed a $150 late fee.

If you have already spoken to a Torero Connect Counselor in regard to your late payment and a late interest appeal and would like to have your request further evaluated, please submit the Late Interest Penalty Appeal Form. Please note that you must meet with a Torero Connect Counselor prior to submitting this request.

• Accounts paid by checks or online via the student account that are returned by the bank uncollected are not considered paid.
• Any benefit derived from, or deadline met by remitting a check which is later returned by the bank, will become void.
• You will be assessed a $25 service for returned checks or online payments.
• Students with multiple returned checks or online payments may have personal check or online payment privileges revoked.
• A monthly interest late fee, if applicable, may be charged to the student account if a check or online payment is returned.

• Credit balances resulting from a check payment are refunded 10 business days after payment is received.
• All refunds of check overpayments from personal sources, including payments from a trust up to $5,000, are refunded to the student.
• Payments made from a trust account, resulting in an excess of $5,000 will be returned directly to the trust account.
• If there is an excess distribution of funds from a 529 plan payment it will be refunded to the 529 plan directly. Please refer to Publication 970 and consult your tax advisor or 529 plan administrator regarding the excess funds and tax implications.
• When a student officially withdraws from the university, prorated refunds are provided based on the published Tuition Refund Policy and Campus Housing and Dining Services Agreement.
• Before the first day of classes, supplemental tuition (room/board and other fee) insurance may be purchased directly from GradGuard, a service of Next Generation Insurance Group, LLC. To learn more about this optional Tuition Protection Plan, please visit the GradGuard or contact GradGuard Customer Service at 800-719-5915 or info@gradguard.com.
• Tuition refunds related to dropping classes within the published refund period are calculated by the Ellucian/Banner student system using a systematic algorithm.
  • This calculation is based on the actual number of units a student is enrolled, not the block price.
  • For example: If an undergraduate student is enrolled in 16 units and drops all 16 units during the 70% refund period, the student would be responsible to pay 30% of the actual cost of the units: 16 units * $1798 per unit * 30% = $8,630.40.
  • If you are considering dropping a course(s) and would like assistance calculating the amount that you will be charged, please contact your Torero Connect Counselor or by using the Torero Hub question form.

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) prohibits the release of any information concerning a student other than the student's name, address, phone number, graduation date, degree(s) awarded and major to anyone, including a parent. At the university level, parents have no inherent rights to access or inspect their son or daughter's education records, unless the student is a dependent as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Student account statistics (e.g., charges, payments, etc.) can only be disseminated to the student, regardless of who has remitted payment for that account (e.g., parent or grandparent), unless the student has filed a "USD Student Information Release" (FERPA) Authorization by logging into the MySanDiego portal. This authorization remains in effect until rescinded by the student.

Please visit the FERPA section for more complete information concerning our policies.

In an effort to protect students and ensure their best interest, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) published new cash management regulations (34CFR668.161-167) via the Federal Register on October 30, 2015. The Program Integrity and Improvement rules require the University of San Diego to maintain, account for, and disburse Federal Title IV funds in accordance to these regulations. In addition, refunding credit balances associated with Federal Title IV should always be in the best interest of the student. This information is published to comply with these regulatory reporting requirements.

On June 5, 2008, USD entered a banking services agreement with U.S. Bank. The agreement, and subsequent amendments, do not include services for handling student related Title IV credit balance refunds. However, since many USD students bank with U.S. Bank, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) requires that we publish the contract for public review by September 1, 2016.

• DOE Disclosure
• DOE Data for 2024/2025 (PDF)

USD and U.S. Bank also have written agreements related to the U.S. Bank ATM and branch office located on campus. Those agreements are also available for public review (See below).

Effective September 1, 2017, USD is required to disclose the total consideration, monetary and non-monetary, paid or received by the parties under the contract and update this information within 60 days of the new award year (academic year). In addition, USD is required to disclose contract data, such as number of students with U.S. Bank accounts and the mean and median costs associated with these accounts, within 60 days of the new award year.

Effective July 1, 2018, USD is required to conduct reasonable due diligence reviews, at least every two years, to ascertain whether the fees imposed under the T2 arrangement are, considered as a whole, consistent with or below prevailing market rates. Additionally, USD is required to ensure all contracts for the marketing or offering of accounts pursuant to T2 arrangements to the institution’s students make provision for termination of the arrangement by the institution based on complaints received from students or a determination by the institution that the fees assessed under the T2 arrangement are not consistent with or are above prevailing market rates. The university has complied with both of these requirements as of June 30, 2023.

Students ARE NOT required to have a bank account with U.S. Bank in order to receive their refund via direct deposit. USD encourages students to shop around to find a banking partner that fits their financial situation and needs. A good place to start is checking out Bankrate.

Below are links to the written agreements between USD and U.S. Bank:

• ATM Agreement (PDF)
• ID Card and Banking Services Agreement (PDF)
• Onsite Branch Agreement (PDF)

NOTE: All disclosures relating to these new regulations and banking services contract will be made to this webpage.