Financial Services

Tuition and General Fees

Tuition and general fees represent payment toward the maintenance, operating, and instructional costs of the College. Students are charged per credit hour for each semester they are enrolled in the institution. A student enrolled in 12 or more semester credits is considered a full-time student for tuition purposes. Noncredit developmental courses are considered part of the course load in determining full-time status. Current tuition rates, housing costs, and fees may be viewed on the College website (www.rbc.edu) or by calling the Cashier’s Office.

Billing Schedules

Fall semester charges will be billed on or about the beginning of July for those students who have completed the registration process, and payments shall be due on or about the first week of August. Spring semester charges will be billed on or about the beginning of December for those students who have completed the registration process, and payments shall be due on or about the first week of January.

Bills will show all charges at the time the bill is generated, along with any personal payments received, or Financial Aid received or pending. Credit will be given for pending Financial Aid if all Financial Aid requirements have been met. It is the student’s responsibility for ensuring all necessary actions have been taken to receive his/her financial aid awards. If a student has questions on the Financial Aid section of the bill, he/she should reach out to the Financial Aid Department.

Credit will be given for pending outside scholarships only if the student has provided RBC’s Financial Aid department with the official notification of the award(s) prior to the scheduled billing dates. Unless specified by the agency supplying the scholarship, all outside scholarships will be evenly divided between the fall and spring semesters.

Every effort is made to have paper bills sent to the student’s address on file, however students who register late may only receive electronic bill notices. Automated emails with Student Account Statement/Bill attachments are sent out weekly to students who are registered up until the tuition due date. Electronic bills are sent to both personal and RBC email addresses on file. Additional bills and/or collection notices may be sent after the tuition due date to addresses on file. See the Collection Policy section for collections notifications and additional information.

It is the student’s responsibility to make certain that all permanent, local, and personal email addresses are current in our system. Failure to receive a billing statement will not waive the requirement for payment by the due date. Students who do not receive bills, and the due date is approaching, should review their Self Service Banner account balance information by logging onto http://statesmen.rbc.edu/login.

Payment of Accounts

Tuition and fees are payable in full in advance of each semester. Payments must be received by the Cashier’s Office before students will be allowed to complete registration. The College accepts cash, checks, VISA, Discover, and MasterCard. Automated monthly payment plans are also available and students must enroll in the plans prior to the start of each semester.

When a check is returned by the bank for any reason, the student’s academic record will be encumbered and the student will not be permitted to complete registration until tuition, fees, and service charges are paid in full.

Classification as a Virginia Resident In-State Tuition Eligibility

Copies of Section 23-7.4 and Section 23.1-503 (effective October 1, 2016) of the Code of Virginia are available in the College Library.

Section 23-7.4 of the Code of Virginia provides that:

To become eligible for in-state tuition, an independent student shall establish by clear and convincing evidence that for a period of at least one year immediately prior to the date of the alleged entitlement, he was domiciled in Virginia and had abandoned any previous domicile, if such existed.

To become eligible for in-state tuition, a dependent student or unemancipated minor shall establish by clear and convincing evidence that for a period of at least one year prior to the date of the alleged entitlement, the person through whom he claims eligibility was domiciled in Virginia and had abandoned any previous domicile, if such existed.

Domiciliary status shall not ordinarily be conferred by the performance of acts which are auxiliary to fulfilling educational objectives or are required or routinely performed by temporary residents of the Commonwealth. Mere physical presence or residence primarily for educational purposes shall not confer domiciliary status. A matriculating student who has entered an institution and is classified as an out-of-state student shall be required to rebut by clear and convincing evidence the presumption that he is in the Commonwealth for the purpose of attending school and not as a bona fide domiciliary.

Evidence of intent to establish Virginia domicile may include, but is not limited to voting registration, state to which income taxes are filed or paid, property ownership, military records, employment, auto registration, driver’s license, and any other social or economic relationships with the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions. The tuition rate for spouses and dependents of active military personnel will be in accordance with applicable state laws and statutes.

In order to meet requirements of the code provisions related to residence classification of students at Richard Bland College for tuition purposes, the following procedures must be followed:

• The Dean of Enrollment Services shall make initial determination of residence at the time of admission based on completion of the Virginia In-State Tuition Form. Additional documentation may be required. Students unable to provide the necessary information shall be classified as a non-resident.
• An applicant who disagrees with the initial classification shall have the right to appeal to the Dean of Finance and Administration. This appeal must be in writing and the Dean of Finance and Administration shall respond in writing within five working days of the receipt of the appeal.
• If the applicant disagrees with the decision of the Dean of Finance and Administration, the applicant has the right to appeal to a three-member panel consisting of the Residence Life Director, the Chair of the Student Affairs Committee, and the Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee
• Any party aggrieved by a final administrative decision shall have the right to review in the Circuit Court of Dinwiddie County. A petition for review of the final administrative decision shall be filed within thirty days of receiving the written decision.

Late Fees & Collection Costs

Per the Code of Virginia section 2.2-4805, students and families are hereby placed upon notice that failure to pay in full at the time goods or services are rendered or when billed will result in the imposition of a late fee of 10% of the balance due. Returned checks will incur a handling fee of $50. If the account is referred for collection to an attorney or to a private collection agency, then the student will be liable for all attorney’s fees, interest or additional collection costs. Request for or acceptance of goods or services will be deemed to be acceptance of these terms.

To prevent the possible assessment of late payment fees, students must pay all calculated charges on, or before, the semester due date or the date a charge is incurred (whichever occurs later). If tuition has not been paid by the established due date, secured with adequate financial aid, or an automatic payment plan is not in place, students will be charged a late payment fee of up to 10% of the outstanding balance (not to exceed $100) as prescribed in 2.2-4805 of the Code of Virginia. Failure to receive a bill does not waive the requirement for payment when due and will not prevent the application of the late fee.

Class Drops for Non-Payment

If tuition has not been paid by the due date, students may be dropped from his/her courses for non-payment. Communications will be sent to students in advance of being dropped. It is the student’s responsibility to make certain that all permanent, local, and personal email addresses are current in our system. Richard Bland College’s main form of communication for currently enrolled students is through the RBC email address. Failure to review, open, or check the RBC email Inbox, Spam, or other folders will not prevent classes from being dropped for non-payment.

Charges & Fee Types

Charges and fees are defined as amounts owed to the school due from the student. Tuition, which includes mandatory comprehensive and technology fees, is charged per credit hour to all part-time and full-time students. Other fees may be per semester, or one-time only fees, and may not apply to all students. Please review the current academic year’s rates. Charges and fees include but are not limited to:

• Tuition: this charge directly supports the costs of faculty and the academic facilities, programs, and most materials used in teaching
• Comprehensive fee: this charge directly supports the non-academic components of campus including: Athletics, Technology for auxiliary areas (wireless service in non-academic areas excluding residence halls), Maintenance of auxiliary areas (athletics building, Pecan Groves, common areas, etc.), Student Activities and events brought to campus for student entertainment and support of student clubs, Parking
• Technology fee: this charge is used to support the maintenance and replacement of technology in academic buildings
• Math Testing fee: this charge is generated for ALEK online math programs administered to certain students depending on his/her enrolled math course
• Transcript fee: this charge is placed on a student’s account when he/she fills out an official transcript request form from the Records and Registration Office
• Housing: this charge is incurred for residential students
• Meal Plan: this charge is incurred for all residential students, and any commuter student who wishes to have a commuter plan for dining services
• Late fee: this charge may be generated for students who complete late registration, or fail to pay their account balance in full by the established dates set forth by the college
• Parking Fee: this charge stems from a parking ticket administered by the Richard Bland College Police department for failing to display your parking decal, parking in an incorrect lot, etc.
• NSF Fee: a returned check fee is administered to any student account for which a check payment has been returned for nonsufficient funds
• Lab Materials fee: charged per course on certain science lab courses to cover the cost of materials used
• Art Materials fee: charged per course on certain art lab courses to cover the cost of materials used
• Distance Learning fee: charged per credit for courses containing online instruction. Distance learning courses include: 1) those offered online only, 2) those offered in a “hybrid” format (online and in-seat), and 3) those offered in a livestream format. The distance learning fee is $25 per credit hour, not to exceed $90 per course.
• Collection fee: fee imposed on a delinquent student’s account sent out for collections

Refund Checks

Refund checks are generated when a student has a credit on his/her account for the semester. Credits may occur because of overpayments in grants, scholarships, loans, or personal payments made in cash, check, or credit cards. All refund checks will be made out in the student’s name, unless the overpayment is caused by a Parent Plus Loan. For overpayments in Parent Plus Loans, the refund check is processed in the parent’s name. The refund process may take up to 14 calendar days from the date of the overpayment. Refunds are processed in batches, according to the overpayment dates. Once a batch is complete, communications will be sent to students’ email address and Learner Mentors indicating the refund check is available for pick up from the Cashier’s Office with a valid ID. Parent Plus refund checks are mailed out to the address on file. Student refund checks are held in the Cashier’s Office for approximately two weeks before being mailed out to the address on file. It is the student’s responsibility to update address information. Inaccurate information may cause a delay in receiving the refund check.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997

The following information is not intended as legal or tax advice. Please confer with a personal tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service to determine your eligibility for education tax credits.

The Taxpayer Relief Act (TRA) of 1997 created tax benefits for families or students who are paying for higher education or repaying student loans. Through Richard Bland College, students, or the persons who can claim them as dependents, may be able to claim an education credit on Form 1040 or 1040A, only for the qualified tuition and related expenses that were actually paid during a Calendar Year.

The TRA requires all higher education institutions to report annually to the Internal Revenue Service the following information for each student:

• Student name
• Student address
• Social Security Number of the taxpayer who may claim a deduction on a federal income tax return
• The amount of tuition billed, scholarships and grants, and any adjustments made during the calendar year

For each calendar year enrolled, each student will be mailed a Form 1098-T, or notified to view the form available in Banner by January 31 on which to report the required information to the Internal Revenue Service.