Past Due Balances
All charges incurred within a semester are due by the end of that semester and are considered delinquent and past due once semester has ended.
Holds are placed on delinquent accounts that may prevent enrollment in a future term and access to official university records such as transcripts or diplomas (See FO-SFS-03) until the delinquent balance is paid in full or financial arrangements have been made through the Student Financial Services office.
What to Do
Account balances may be paid through your Student Account Center, in person at the Cashier's office, or mailed. See the Cashier's Office for complete payment method details.
If you are not able to pay the delinquent amount in full, you may reach out to Student Financial Services and enter into a payment agreement to make monthly payments. This is encouraged and may prevent your account from being submitted to a 3rd party collection agency.
For re-enrollment at SHSU, delinquent balances need to be paid in full.
Collections
University policy FO-SFS-02 requires delinquent accounts that remain unpaid, to be submitted to a third-party collection agency specializing in debt owed to colleges and universities. Submitted accounts may incur additional fees of up to 30% of the outstanding balance. Once accounts are submitted to a collection agency, SHSU cannot accept payment directly from the student, faculty, or staff member, nor can we waive any part of the additional fees.
If third-party collection efforts fail, a state warrant hold will be placed with the Comptroller’s office for the balance.
How to Avoid
To avoid submission to a collection agency, the delinquent balance must either be paid in full, or entered into a payment agreement to make monthly payments. Entering into a payment agreement alone, will not prevent the account from being submitted to a collection agency. Monthly payments must be received.
What Happens
Once a delinquent account is submitted to a collection agency, the student or faculty/staff member is responsible for paying the delinquent balance as well as the applicable collection fees and/or legal fees associated with collecting on the account. Accounts in collections will be reported to the Federal Credit reporting bureau as a past due debt.