"The Worst Thing You Can Do is Ignore This Bill"

E-mail is the official method of communication for The College of New Jersey.  The Office of Student Accounts sends an e-mail to all TCNJ students and to the Responsible Bill Payer list serve (see additional information below) on a monthly basis when the current billing statement is available on The Electronic Student Services (TESS) system.  No paper bills are generated in our office.  The consequences for ignoring the e-mail bill notification may result in monthly late payment fines and de-registration for non-payment.

Late Payment Fines

Late payment fines are issued monthly to accounts that have an outstanding balance.  The College of New Jersey Board of Trustees determines the amount of the late payment fine in July prior to every academic year.  To avoid receiving a late payment fine, the billing calendar lists the payment due date and the date late payment fines are assessed.  The calendar is available on the Office of Student Accounts page.  Click here to view this information now.

De-registration

De-registration involves dropping a student's course schedule for non-payment.  This process occurs several times during the year:

1. In August, prior to the start of the Fall semester.
2. In November, after the Spring registration (students who have by-passed the hold for an outstanding balance on their Fall bill are removed from their Spring courses).
3. In April, after the Fall registration (students who have by-passed the hold for an outstanding balance on their Spring bill are removed from the Fall courses).

Students who are subject to being de-registered are notified via e-mail and are given the opportunity to pay prior to having their schedule deleted.  Once a student's schedule is dropped, the student will receive a de-registration hold.  This hold notifies departments that the student cannot register until the bill is paid.  In order to re-register, the student must pay the bill for the classes they are registering for and pay the late re-registration fee.  There is no guarantee that students will be able to register for the same courses or schedule initially registered for.

Bill E-mail Notification

The initial Fall and Spring billing statements are provided in July and November respectively.  The bill e-mail notifications contain a wealth of information, such as payment due date, bill payment methods, process to submit private scholarship awards, financial aid and instructions to register an e-mail to the Responsible Bill Payer Distribution List.

To register an additional e-mail address, follow the instructions below:

1. Go to the Office of Student Accounts webpage
2. Click on "Sign-up Responsible Bill Payer for E-mail Notifications"
3. Enter TCNJ e-mail username (portion of address before the @ symbol).
4. Enter e-mail password
5. Click on "Login"
6. Check your name and ID number for correctness and then enter the alternate e-mail address.
7. Click on "Update"
8. You will receive the following message on the top of the screen:  "Your information has been updated".

Ignoring the e-mail notifications regarding the billing statement is not a wise decision.  Receiving late payment fines are a financial burden and losing the course schedule sometimes affects a student's ability to follow their program plan if classes are closed when they attempt to re-register.

Instead of ignoring the bill, remember the consequences that will occur if you do not pay!