Tuition Policy

Registration Day is August 7, 2012 from 7:00am to 1:00pm and 4:00pm to 6:30pm

Tuition & Fee Amounts

After much consideration and review, the Board of Trustees is reviewing the 2012-2013 Subsidized Tuition levels:

Religious Affiliation	First Child
Catholic (parish registration required)	$6,910 In-review
Incoming Non-Catholic freshmen	$10,389 In-review
International Non-Catholic students	$11,592 In-review

The increases are based upon the Diocesan directive to move non-Catholic families to the full cost of education. We offer a 3% sibling discount (not eligible for International students).

Tuition Payment

The Board of Trustees have adopted the following tuition payment policy for the 2012-2013 academic term. Families may pay their tuition bill in one of two ways:

Full payment of tuition by June 28, 2012. This payment should be made directly to STM and entitles families to a 2.5% tuition discount (not eligible for International students).
Automatic monthly payments through the FACTS Payment Plan. Payments may be made monthly, from two to eleven months. Payments begin July, 2012. Payments may be made on either the 5th or the 20th of the month. A program fee is charged by FACTS for this plan.

Parish Financial Assistance

It is the intent of the Pastors' Board that no qualified Catholic student should be denied an education at The High School of Saint Thomas More because of lack of financial resources. Therefore, the parishes of the Champaign Vicariate have made generous financial assistance funds available to children of their parishioners. Because of the sensitive nature of the information involved, neither the school nor the parishes evaluate the initial financial need of financial assistance applicants. That service is performed by FACTS Business Solutions for Education in Lincoln, NE.

Applications for parish financial assistance and the financial need forms from FACTS are available at the school. The deadline for submitting both forms is February 10, 2012. Late applications will not be considered, except in cases of transfer or relocation. Absolutely no financial assistance will be awarded without the completion of a FACTS form.

For families receiving tuition assistance, parents and students may be required to provide a certain number of service hours to the school community. The funding parish may also have separate requirements.

Late Enrollment or Withdrawal

Families enrolling/registering after July 1, 2012, are expected to fulfill their tuition obligation according to the payment schedule stated herein. Monthly payments may not extend past May 20, 2013.

Tuition is charged or refunded for full semesters only. Any one of the following conditions is evidence that the student is enrolled for a given semester:

Grades are recorded and/or credit is granted for the semester.
Transfer grades are requested for work done during the semester.
The student's dates of actual attendance span at least twenty (20) school days in the semester.
The student was enrolled and written notice of withdrawal is not received within the first twenty (20) school days of the semester.

Late Payments

Full Payment families — if payment is not received on or before June 28, 2012, the discounted rate of tuition will not apply.

Families submitting down payments — if down payment is not received by June 28, 2012, the family will enroll the down payment amount into the FACTS balance and monthly withdrawals adjusted accordingly.

Monthly Payment families — Accounts are automatically debited for the monthly tuition amount. If a family misses a monthly payment due to insufficient funds, a $25.00 missed payment fee will be assessed by FACTS. An additional fee may be assessed by the family's financial institution. The missed payment will be reattempted by FACTS within 20 days.

Suspension of Monthly Payment Privileges

The ability to pay a student's tuition on a monthly basis is a privilege – not a right. The High School of Saint Thomas More will extend every reasonable consideration to families that are experiencing financial difficulties.

However, in some cases it may become necessary to rescind the privilege to pay monthly. In such cases, the full remaining tuition balance will become due immediately. Failure to provide payment will result in the student not being admitted to any classes and/or the student's official transcripts being withheld (see next section).

The following are grounds for the suspension of monthly payment privileges:

A missed electronic payment to FACTS that is not fulfilled within 60 days of the original withdrawal attempt (being two months behind)
Canceling an existing FACTS agreement without providing the tuition balance directly to the school within ten business days
Having an unresolved "account on hold" with FACTS for longer than 30 days

Outstanding Balances

Enrollment of a student at The High School of Saint Thomas More includes a financial obligation for tuition. Student accounts must be kept current at all times. At the end of each quarter, all tuition, fees, and fines must be paid before a report card is released.

If any fee or school payment (including payment due for class rings, library fee, etc.) would, for any reason whatsoever, remain due at the end of a semester or when a student withdraws from school, only an "unofficial transcript" will be provided until the full and final payment is received. Any student that has an outstanding balance at the end of a semester will not be allowed to take the final exam in his or her classes. Furthermore, any family with an outstanding balance at the end of a semester will not be permitted to enroll for subsequent semesters at The High School of Saint Thomas More without the authorization of the Pastors' Board, acting upon the recommendation of the Principal.

If the Tuition Policy is not honored, the school has the right to:

Refuse to allow the student to attend classes;
Deny the student the right to participate in any type of extracurricular activity;
Deny the student the right to participate in graduation ceremonies, to graduate, and to receive official transcripts of grades or a diploma; and
Take other action as deemed appropriate by the Pastors' Board.