The Student Accounts Office at Worcester State University oversees all aspects of student financial accounts, including preparing bills, collecting payments, and processing refunds. We work closely with the financial aid, registrar’s and retention offices to resolve financial issues affecting students.
Our office accepts the following forms of payment:
If you have met the Financial Aid Office deadlines, your financial aid should appear as “pending financial aid” on your statement. If it does not, please go to Financial Aid Self Service via WebAdvisor and complete your checklist. For federal student loans to appear as “pending financial aid,” you must follow and complete your checklist which includes accepting your student loans, reviewing and signing your Financial Aid Offer Letter, and completing both Entrance Counseling and a Master Promissory Note.
Worcester State offers an interest-free payment plan administered through NBS Payments. Payments start before a semester begins, so please apply early.
If you do not set up a payment plan, you are expected to return payment due and the corresponding remittance slip on your statement on or before the due date. If payment is not received by the due date, a Non-Payment Registration Hold will be placed on your account. If a hold is placed on your account, you will need to rectify your account status and pay the remaining balance.
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides students certain rights with respect to their education records. As a student, Worcester State University cannot release any financial information, including refunds, pertaining to your account to anyone but you. If you would like to allow us to share financial information with a parent, please complete and submit a FERPA waiver form to the Student Accounts Office.
If you are a student with health insurance coverage, you need to complete an online waiver form at www.universityhealthplans.com before the first day of classes. You may then deduct the health insurance premium charge if it is listed in the itemized charges section of your statement. If you need the insurance, you must enroll at www.universityhealthplans.com.
If you are assigned a room in a residence hall, charges for the room and corresponding meal plan will be applied to your bill. Questions regarding housing assignments should be directed to the Residence Life and Housing Office at 508-929-8074.
If you ever decide to cancel your course registrations, drop courses, or withdraw from Worcester State University during an add/drop period, you will receive a full refund. The add/drop period is held during the first 2 weeks of a semester. But if you withdraw from a course after this period, you will not be eligible for a refund.
If you do not plan to attend Worcester State University for a semester, you must notify the Academic Success Center to schedule an appointment at 508-929-8139 to withdraw properly. This is an important step because not attending classes is not automatically considered as your withdrawal from classes, and you still will be responsible for any charges incurred.
You can now enroll online to receive your refunds directly deposited into your bank account. To enroll, follow these steps:
Please contact the Student Accounts Office for more information.
Form 1098-T specifies “qualified educational expenses” paid by a student of an eligible educational institution in the prior tax year. Tuition, enrollment fees, and course materials the student was required to buy from the institution are considered qualified expenses.
Worcester State students can obtain copies of their 1098-T forms for the current year and any prior years as applicable to their enrollment. 1098-T forms are facilitated by Heartland ECSI on behalf of Worcester State University, and can be obtained with the following instructions:
Students might want to consider seeking assistance with their tax filing obligations, if eligible, through Worcester State’s VITA, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
Worcester State University believes it’s important to offer an easy, affordable way to protect the investment your family has made in higher education. This is why Worcester State and the Student Accounts Office has partnered with GradGuard to provide our students with Tuition Insurance.
This coverage expands the scope of our refund policy for covered withdrawals during the semester.
For more information about this important offering is available on the GradGuard website.
Book vouchers are sometimes provided to eligible students to assist in purchasing books and course-related supplies in the on-campus bookstore using excess available financial aid funds.
Eligible students will be emailed by the Student Accounts Office inviting them to accept a voucher. Acceptance of a voucher is voluntary and if students do not respond to the email, those book vouchers do not get activated.
Book voucher amounts vary based on the student’s financial aid package and available excess aid. The maximum book voucher applied is $600 per semester.
Book vouchers do expire however; they are available to be used after activation and until the end of the add/drop period in that particular semester.
If you have additional questions about book vouchers, please contact Student Accounts at bursar_info@worcester.edu or 508-929-8051.
