In addition to the Student Government Association (SGA) and Parking Permit Fees paid by all students, other semester fees may apply, depending on your circumstance and course load.

Health Insurance Fee

Massachusetts law requires that every student enrolled in a course load that is equivalent to at least 3/4 full-time enrollment participate in a qualifying student health insurance program or in a health benefit plan with comparable coverage. Students may qualify to waive this fee. Additional information can be found on the Consolidated Health Plans website.

Audit Fee

Students may choose to attend a course without earning credit for the course.

Rates: Courses that are audited are charged the same tuition rate as if credit was being earned for the course.

Lab and Course Fees

Students enrolled in designated fine arts or laboratory science courses will be charged an additional fee of $30 or $90 per course.

Fees for the 2012-2013 academic year (subject to change):
ART 270-02 Jewelry and Jewelry Making – $90
ART 270 Architectural Modeling -- $90
ART 263 Jewelry and Jewelry Making -- $90
ART 368 Intro to Drawing – $90
ART 369 Intro to Painting – $90
ESCI 234 The Environment Lab – $30
ESCI 244 Physical World Lab – $30

Part-Time Student Policy

A part-time student is considered to be a student accepted into a day undergraduate program of study who is enrolled in less than 12 credits in a semester.

  • Part-Time students pay the applicable rate for the course for which they are enrolled in.
  • If 1 or more credits are from the Day Undergraduate program then the student will be charged a Parking Fee. The student will be required to obtain a parking decal.
  • The Student Government Association [SGA] fee is waived.
  • Student is still subject to the policies governing the Health Insurance Fee.
  • Student may be charged a Lab & Course fee if applicable.
  • Professional Studies courses and Graduate courses must be paid for at registration. Day program courses follow the billing dates for the appropriate term. Student may be charged a Late Payment Fee for Day program courses.
  • Please contact the Business Office for tuition and fee information.

Overload & Graduate Course Policy

Undergraduate full-time day students who take a graduate course as an overload that does not count toward their undergraduate degree, but toward their MBA degree, may pay the graduate per credit cost for the overload credits.

Procedures to receive the MBA per credit charge in place of the day student overload charge:

  1. The exception must be applied for at the Registrar’s Office. The student must apply for the discounted rate within two weeks of the MBA course start date.
  2. The Registrar will verify the number of credits that meet the requirement and notify the Business Office as to the number of credits to be reduced from the day overload charge to the MBA per credit charge.
  3. The discounted rate will be applied to the student account AFTER the add/drop period has ended. The student account will show the Day overload rate until the discounted rate has been applied. The student is responsible for paying at least the MBA per credit rate for the course by either the term due date or upon registration for the course (whichever is later).

Returned Check Fee

A fee that is charged to accounts when a check is returned to Nichols College for non-payment by the issuing bank. The returned check fee is $50 and is charged for each check that is returned to Nichols College for non-payment by the issuing bank. Nichols College reserves the right to refuse to accept personal checks as payment. We may at our discretion accept only credit card payments or cashier’s checks.

Late Payment Fee

The Late Payment Fee for the 2013-2014 year is $250 and applies to all full-time day and part-time day students (resident and commuter). Day undergraduate students are assessed this fee each semester if a Plan-in-Place for settling the semester’s financial obligations is not finalized by the due date on the semester’s statement.

Late Payment Fee Policy

Definition of “Plan-in-Place” (PIP): Students must have documented sources of payment that will cover the entirety of the semester’s costs. These sources may consist of the following:

  • Financial Aid: All approved financial aid.
    • Note: All loan applications and award letters must have been submitted and approved prior to the specified due date. Please note that it may take 2-6 weeks for the loan to be approved and for Nichols to be notified of the loan approval.
  • Payment plan in a “current” status. Nichols College uses Tuition Management Systems (TMS) as our monthly payment plan company.
  • Outside scholarships: Proof of an outside scholarship must be submitted to the financial aid office for approval prior to the PIP due date. An example of an outside scholarship would be a high school award.
  • Third-party reimbursement: Only if submitted and approved in advance of the PIP due date.
  • Valid health insurance waiver.
    • Failure to waive or pay in full the health insurance fee by the PIP due date WILL result in the late payment fee being assessed.
    • Check, Money Order, or Credit Card payment for the balance due.

What is not a “Plan-in-Place”:

  • Informing the Business Office that you intend to apply for financial aid.
  • Informing the Business Office that your plan is to mail a check after the due date or pay the balance by the start of the semester.
  • All Late Payment Fees are assessed based upon the balance showing on the account as of the semester due date.

Graduation Fee

A mandatory fee is charged to all students certified for graduation, regardless if the student participates in the commencement ceremony.

  • The graduation fee is $100.
  • The fee is charged regardless of participation in commencement exercises.
  • The fee is charged to all students for each degree earned.
  • The fee is charged in the March/April timeframe for May graduates. For degrees that are completed in August and December the fee is charged about a month after classes are completed and the degree list is completed by the Registrar’s Office.
  • All student accounts have a full financial audit performed on the account. The audit verifies the accuracy of the charges on the account given your student history at Nichols College. If any discrepancies are found you will be notified and the appropriate charges are billed and/or credits are refunded to your account.
  • All financial obligations to the College must be met in order for the student to receive his/her degree.
    • Typically this occurs after all course requirements have been completed and the FINAL statement has been issued and paid.
    • Resident Students: The final statement is typically issued at the end of May and will contain the final damage billings for the year.
  • The actual degrees are normally delivered to Nichols College 8 to 10 weeks after graduation.
  • Graduation ceremonies are held once a year in May.

Miscellaneous Adjustments

Adjustments may be made to the student account during the year. These adjustments are typically done once a month and students will receive an email informing them that they should check their statements online. The most common adjustments are listed below.

Damage Billing

Damage billing refers to any damages that occur in the Residence Halls. The damage may be in the student’s individual room or the damage may be in a common area of the Residence Hall. Students could also be found responsible for damages to other buildings or property owned or on the Nichols College campus. Damages that are not specific to an individual are referred to as “Unassigned Damage” on the statements. All questions regarding damage billing should be referred to the Residence Life department.

Disciplinary Fines

Students may be assessed Disciplinary Fines. Please refer to the Student Handbook for information regarding disciplinary fines.

Library Fees

Students may be charged the replacement cost of books or other materials that are not returned to the library or returned with damages.

Parking Tickets

Students may incur Parking Tickets. Please contact Public Safety for additional information.

Replacement ID Cards

You may be charged a fee for a replacement ID card. Please report lost or stolen ID cards immediately. This will prevent the unauthorized usage of your ID card. If the card becomes broken do not throw away the pieces. Bring the pieces of the broken card with you when you request a replacement card. You may not be charged a replacement Id card fee if you can show proof of a damaged card (overuse of the policy may result in fees being charged).