Installment Plan Option
An installment plan for payment of credit tuition is available. Additional information regarding the payment plan is available online at www.com.edu/payments/payment-plan.
Refunding of Tuition
College policy for the refund of tuition is set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. COM shall administer these state-mandated college and university refund policies in the best possible interest of students, while maintaining compliance with the letter and intent of these policies.
COM shall refund tuition collected for courses from which the students drop or withdraw, according to the schedules that follow. The indicated percentages are to be applied to the tuition collected for each course from which the student is withdrawing. Students withdrawing from only a portion of their course load shall receive the appropriate percentage of refund for the withdrawn course.
Class Days refer to the number of days since the first class day of the semester and not the number of days a particular class has met or the number of scheduled classes the student has attended or missed.
Tuition refunds for approved semester-length courses for which semester credit hours are awarded as described in the Refund Table below:
Refund Table for Semester Credit Hours
| Semester Length | 100% Refund | 70% Refund | 25% Refund | 0% Refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-week (Fall/Spring) | Dropped prior to the first class day | Dropped during class days 1-15 | Dropped during class days 16-20 | After the 20th class day |
| 8-week (Fall/Spring) | Dropped prior to the first class day | Dropped during class days 1-8 | Dropped during class days 9-10 | After the 10th class day |
| 12-week (Fall/Spring) | Dropped prior to the first class day | Dropped during class days 1-12 | Dropped during class days 13-15 | After the 15th class day |
| 3 weeks (Mini) | Dropped prior to the first class day | Dropped during class days 1-3 | Dropped on class day 4 | After the 4th class day |
| 5-week (Summer) | Dropped prior to the first class day | Dropped during class days 1-5 | Dropped on class day 6 | After the 6th class day |
Credit hours can be dropped and added without penalty if the exchange is equal and exchanged prior to census date. When the charges for dropped hours are greater than for hours added, the refund policy outlined above applies to the net charges being dropped.
If a student withdraws because the student is called into active military service or training or is required by the government to move to a new location that prohibits completion of the course work, 100 percent of applicable tuition paid by the student for the semester will be refunded at the student's request. For other available options, please refer to Veterans Education Benefits. Appropriate documentation will be required.
The Bursar (with the appeal to the Controller and/or Vice President for Fiscal Affairs) will have authority to refund applicable tuition for a student who withdraws within 30 calendar days from the beginning of classes (15 calendar days for summer terms) if severe extenuating circumstances have occurred (beyond the student’s control) preventing the student from being enrolled. Appropriate documentation will be required.
Regulations Concerning Checks
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When a check or an electronic payment (referred to in this section as a check) is returned to the College, a $25 service charge is assessed. The payer has ten days from the date of the notice to make full payment by cash, cashier’s check, or money order. Failure to comply will result in refusal by the College to accept future personal checks from the payer. If the returned check was for a tuition bill or to clear a registration hold, the student’s registration will be canceled; a service charge of $25 and a late charge, if applicable, will be assessed for all other returned checks. Until full payment is made on the returned check, all student records will be withheld and legal action may be taken.
The College will not accept a check from an individual who: previously had a registration canceled because of a returned check; wrote a bad check to clear a hold; wrote a bad check and was not responsive to requests for payment; or habitually writes bad checks, even though restitution is made promptly. Once a payer is barred from writing a personal check, the bar remains in place for at least one year. After the year has passed, the payer may submit an appeal to the Bursar in the Financial Services Office to have the bar lifted.
- Checks must be written for the exact amount owed for tuition and for the purchase of books or equipment or any debt due to the College.
- The check signer’s valid Texas driver’s license or a Texas State ID is required as identification for all checks made payable to COM or its affiliated auxiliary enterprises.
Policy on Third Repeat Courses or Developmental Courses that Exceed 27 Hours
The Texas State Legislature has mandated that state funding be withheld from state-funded college courses when students are enrolling for a third time in a course or when a student exceeds 27 hours for developmental credit courses taken since Fall 2002. To mitigate the effect of the loss of state appropriations, COM students will be charged a tuition increase when enrolling in a course for a third time or for developmental credit courses that exceed 27 credit hours. When this occurs, in-district students will pay-out-of-district tuition and out-of-district students will pay out-of-state tuition. See the Schedule of Tuition for out-of-district and out-of-state tuition rates: www.com.edu/admissions/costs-financial-aid.
Concurrent College Enrollment Tuition Adjustments
Section 54.011 of the Texas Education Code permits an adjustment in the minimum tuition charge when students are concurrently registered at more than one public institution of higher education. When a student registers at more than one public institution of higher education at the same time, the student’s tuition charges shall be determined in the following manner:
- The student shall pay the full tuition charge to the first institution at which the student is registered; and in any event the student shall pay an amount at least equal to the minimum tuition specified in this code.
- If the minimum tuition specified in this code for the first institution at which the student is registered is equal to or greater than the minimum tuition specified in this code for the second institution at which the student is registered concurrently, the student shall not be required to pay the specified minimum tuition charge to the second institution in addition to the tuition charge paid to the first institution, but shall pay only the hourly rates, as provided in this code, to the second institution.
- If the minimum tuition specified in this code for the first institution at which the student is registered is less than the specified minimum tuition charge at the second institution (that is, if the second institution has a higher minimum tuition charge specified in this code), then the student shall first register at the institution having the lower minimum tuition and shall pay to the second institution only the amount equal to the difference between the student’s total tuition charge at the second institution and the student’s total tuition charge at the first institution, but in no case shall the student pay to the second institution less than the hourly rates as provided in this code.
- If a student is considered to be a Texas resident and therefore qualified to pay Texas resident tuition rates by one institution at which the student is registered, the student shall be considered a Texas resident at each of the institutions at which the student is concurrently registered for the purposes of determining the proper tuition charges. Nothing in this subdivision shall be so construed as to allow a nonresident to pay resident tuition except at institutions covered by Section 54.231.
Student Financial Responsibility Agreement
Each semester, students will acknowledge and submit the Student Financial Responsibility Agreement before enrolling in courses. The link provided will direct you to the form on Self Service. https://selfserve.com.edu/Student/Agreements