Billing Rules
- Janine Anderson
The billing rules used to segregate groups of students with similar charges and bill them accordingly. The charge group defines a group of charges to apply to the students who reside in the group. Within each charge group, the charges listed will only be applied to those in the group who meet each filter defined for the charge. There are 3 types of charge groups at this time, tuition & fees, housing and meals.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition and Fees are assigned on the Student Financials, Billing Rules Screen.
The Charge Group is used to assess charges for tuition/fees stored within individual courses or within the billing rules charge group itself. Regardless of the means of charging the fees a billing rule, a charge group must exist for each student.
Charge Group by Major/Concentration
The Group Billing and Make a Payment process, first tries to find a Charge Group that matches the student’s major/concentration in the students session data for the semester. If the major doesn’t exist for the semester in session data, the billing process will use the student’s major/concentration from their current degree. If one exists, it will use it and not a site based charge group.
Charge Group by Billing Site
If no charge group exists for the students major code in their session data or current degree, the group billing process will try to find a charge group beginning with the letter M and ending with the student billing site in session data for the semester being processed. If the site is <10 a zero is prepended to the billing site. For Example, if the student’s site is 1, the process will use a M01 charge group if a charge group by major is not found.
Session Data Override of Charge Group by Major
A major charge group can be overridden on an individual per semester basis by checking use site billing on the session data record. This is useful for students who are entering a major with its own matrix in a future semester, but for the current semester they should be billed by site.
No Charge Group Identified
If neither a charge group matching the students major or a billing site, Group Billing will give an error which will need to be cleared in order to process billing for the semester. Students processed by Group Billing will include students enrolled for the semester, billed in a semester or in a cohort in the bill unenrolled options (if selected). If this occurs, and the OK button is selected, group billing will list the errors with the student id, site number and a description. Many times if you clear an error for the first student in the list, multiple students will be cleared.
Each time group billing is run, a new batch is created, thereby allowing multiple users to run group billing simultaneously. The billing batch member is the USERID of the user, so if a batch exists for the user, a new batch cannot be transferred until the existing batch is deleted or posted.
Filters
The values in the following filters determine whether a particular student will be charged the associated amount or an amount contained within a course. It is based true/false evaluation of a data property related to the student. Each filter is evaluated separately and all would have to be true in order for the student to be billed.
When using the filter fields, you need to be sure to enter an additional rules so that at least one rule applies to each student. For example, If a charge group has a rule for students whose begin start date is 01/01/2024, there should also be a separate rule with the end start date of 12/31/2023. Otherwise, when a student in that charge group with a date < 01/01/24 was encountered, they would not be billed.
If a filter field is left at it’s default value (E.g. 0 or blank), the filter will not be tested against the student. The only exception is when the Blank Rule Code Testable is checked. This means the students Billing Rule, as defined in session data for the student in the semester being billed, must be blank in order for the charge to apply.
Begin Start Date and End Start Date - Begin Start Date and End Start Date filters can apply to either the students current degree start date, a billing start date override in the students current degree, or the students deposit date.
By default the Students Current Degree Begin Date is used. This can be overriden to either use the Admissions Deposit Date (Custom Control, BILLDEPST, Sequence 1, Parmeter 1=Y. This can also be overridden on the current degree with the degree billing start date. This is useful in situations in where the student has been grandfathered into an earlier start date cohort for billing purposes.
If Custom Control BILLDEPST, Sequence 1, Parmeter 1 is Y, the students application deposit date is used to determine start date.
Min Credit for Fee - This field contains a minimum number of total credits that the student must be enrolled in for the charge semester to receive this charge. If the student’s total credits are greater than or equal to this value, and all other filters are true, the student will be charged this amount. If this field is left at 0.00 or blank there is no minimum number of credits associated with the charge, therefore overall minimum credits will not be a factor in determining if the student is billed. Note: No charge will be applied if the student is not enrolled and the charge is not non-reversible. Not enrolled is defined as zero total credits AND zero enrollments.
This field is also used as the minimum/maximum threshold when Per Credit Over is X or U. U=Up to the number of minimum credits, X mean in excess of the minimum credits.
Max Credit for Fee - This field contains a maximum number of total credits that the student can be enrolled in and still receive this charge. If the student’s total credits are less than or equal to this value, the student will be charged this amount if all other tests are true. If this field is left at 0.00 or blank, there is no maximum number of credits associated with the charge, therefore maximum credits will not be a factor in determining if the student is billed.
Full Time/Part Time - This field is for information purposes only and has no effect on the determination if a charge is applied.
Res Flag - Each charge in the Charge Group has a Resident/Commuter flag associated with it. All charges that only apply to resident students must have an ‘R’ or ‘M’ in this flag and all charges that only apply to commuter students must have a ‘C’ in this flag. This flag is left blank for charges that apply to both residents and commuters. Resident students are defined as those with a Session Data RESIDENT_CODE of ‘R’ or ‘M’ for the semester. Commuters are defined as students with a RESIDENT_CODE of ‘C’ in the Session Data table.
Rule Code and Blank Rule Code Testable - This field is used to specify a rule code which is associated with the charge. If the rule code is non blank, the student would have to have the associated rule defined in their Session Data Billing Rule Code in order to receive the charge.
If the Rule Code in the Charge Group is blank, it is considered not defined and students who have a billing rule code on their session data can still be charged. If this is not desired, and should only apply to students who have no billing rule code defined, checking the Blank Rule Code Testable will make a blank rule code required for a student to be charged.
Frequency - This flag determines how often a charge will be assessed for the billing code used in the charge.
If this flag is blank, the charge is assessed every semester (provided all other flags tested result in true).
An ‘A’ indicates an annual charge that should only be billed once per year. If the student has already been charged using this transaction/billing code in a semester with the same first 4 positions as the current semester being billed, the student would not be billed this amount. For example if an orientation fee using transaction code ORIENTFEE exists with a frequency of ‘A’ and the student was billed in 202600, and the charge existed in the students’ 202700 charge group, the student would not be charged again.
A ‘1’ in this field indicates the charge is a once in a lifetime charge. Once a student has been billed an amount using the associated bill code, the student would not be charged in any subsequent semesters.
A ‘5’ in this field indicates the charge is a once in any semester group 5. If the student has already been charged this amount, for this bill code, in a semester with the same first 5 positions as the current semester being billed, the student would not be billed this amount. For example if a registration fee existed with a frequency of ‘5’ and the student was billed in 202600, and the charge existed in the students’ 202605 charge group, the student would not be charged again.
Per Credit Over - This flag is used to indicate a charge that is to be applied to students based upon the number of credits they are enrolled in for the semester being billed. A U indicates a per credit charge that is to be applied up until a certain number of credits (min credit for fee field). An X indicates a per credit charge to be applied to any credits in excess of the min credit for fee.
Course Count Min - This field contains the minimum number of courses that the student is enrolled in the semester to receive this charge. If the student’s total number of courses is greater than or equal to the course count, the student will be charged this amount. If this field is left at 0 or blank, there is no minimum number of courses associated with the charge, therefore course count will not be a factor in determining if the student is billed.
Course Count Max - This field contains the maximum number of courses that the student is enrolled in that semester to receive this charge. If the student’s total number of courses is less than or equal to the course count, the student will be charged this amount. If this field is left at 0 or blank, there is no maximum number of courses associated with the charge, therefore course count will not be a factor in determining if the student is billed.
Min Cred per Enrollment- This field contains the minimum number of credits for a by enrollment charge to apply. Only by enrollment charges for courses with credits equal to or greater than this will be charged this fee.
Max Cred per Enrollment- This field contains the maximum number of credits for a by enrollment charge to apply. Only by enrollment charges for courses with credits less than or equal to this will be charged this fee.
Continuing Ed Flag- This flag is used to specify a charge that should be applied to students whose Continuing Education code (STBIOS/CONTINUING_ED_CODE) is not blank.
For Freshman - This flag is used to specify a charge that should be applied to students who are Freshmen. Freshmen are defined here as Admission Entering Semester=Charge Semester and Admissions Progress Code = “P”.
Exclude Artificial Credits - This flag is used to specify a charge that should not be applied to students who are billed based upon artificial credits. Artificial Credits are used when running the matrix and billing unenrolled freshman or bill unenrolled from Session Data.
Min Clock Hours / Use Scheduled Hours - Minimum Clock Hours are used to specify a number of attendance hours associated with the charge. This field is usually used in conjunction with the frequency flag of once in a lifetime. If Use Schedule Hours is checked, the Min Clock Hours applies to scheduled hours on the date the group billing is run. If Use Scheduled Hours is blank, attended hours are used to determine whether to apply the charge.
Minimum Clock Hours are used for clock hour programs which have fees that are applied based on specific attendance hours. For example, a Nursing program with a Nursing 1 charge at 0 hours, a Nursing 2 charge at 450 hours and Nursing 3 charge at 900 hours would need to have 3 separate transaction codes and a once in a lifetime specified for each level. If the same transaction code was used, the student would never be charged when they got to 450 or 900 hours because it would see they were already charged for that transaction code. The once in a lifetime prevents the student for being recharged the 0 minimum hours charge for each semester billed.
Billing Site - This flag is used to specify a charge that should only be applied to students whose billing site in session data for the charge semester matches. If a charge is to be applied for all students regardless of billing site, this field should be left blank. Once a billing site is applied, it can be changed to a different site, but cannot be set back to blank.
Process Type Tuition
The process type dictates how the charges will be applied. The process types that apply to tuition and fees are blank, T, C, L and A.
Process Type Blank/Default - This is used for flat rate, per credit, and per course tuition and fees charged based upon the amounts and billing codes specified in the billing rules themselves. This process type does not include any tuition and fees that exist in the course fee table.
Process Type T - Process type T is used for tuition charges which are based either on Course Fees (Type C) on the Course Fee Panel, OR upon the amounts in the billing rule itself. If a type T rule exists and a course fee on a course is found, that course fee will be charged. If a course fee is not found, the amounts in the billing rule will be charged provided they are by course or by credit. Flat fees (Per Credit or Course = blank) are not valid with a process type T and will not be charged.
Process Type C - The Process Type C is used in order to charge tuition based within the billing rule and a course fee (Type C in the course fee panel of the course). This allows for a course fee from the course and a separate tuition amount to both be charged on a per course basis.
Process Type L - The Process Type L is used in order to charge lab fees. Lab fees are stored in the course on the fee panel with a Type L. Process type L is by definition charged by enrollment. If a Lab Fee has a billing code specified on the billing rule, the billing code from the rule will be used instead of the billing code specified on the course fee panel Type L charge.
Process Type A - The Process Type A is used in order to charge courses taken as an Audit. An audit course is a course that has a final grade which is flagged as an audit grade in the quality point maintenance in the registration module. The bill code associated with the audit handler must not be the same as the one associated with flat rate/per course/by enrollment tuition. Audits will not count towards billing of other fees outlined in the matrix. Billing of audits can be turned off by setting custom control BI050B-2-3 to ‘N’. If this parameter is set to ‘N’, courses with an audit grade will be billed the same as other enrollments.
Per Credit or Course
The per credit per course determines if a charge is a flat fee, a per course, or per credit fee.
Flat Fees on All - If this flag is blank, the charge is a one charge per semester and is billed in the amount specified in the amount column. A Flat Fee is not valid with a Process Type T.
Per Course Fees - Per course fees charge the amount on a per course basis. For example if a student were enrolled in 4 courses and the charge was specified as 100.00 the student would be charged $400.00. If a Per Course Fee is charged and the by enrollment flag is not checked, the student will be billed one 400.00 charge. If the by enrollment flag is checked, 4 separate 100 charges will be produced.
Per Credit Fees - Per Credit Fees charge the amount multiplied by the student’s credits. For example, if the amount bucket contained $100.00, the per-credit or course flag contained a 2, and the student was enrolled in 12 credits, the student would be billed $1200.00. If this Per Credit Fee is charged and the by enrollment flag is not checked, the student will be billed one $1200.00 charge. If the by enrollment flag was checked and the student was in 3, 4 credit courses, the student would have 3 charges of $400.00.
By Enrollment
The By Enrollment flag is used to identify charges that are billed based upon each individual enrollment. The per-enrollment flag can only be selected for charges that are processed per credit or per course or for the Lab Fee or Course Fee Handlers.
The By Enrollment Flag, if blank indicates all charges for the Charge Group are to be totaled and billed in one charge. This only applies to per credit or per course charges in the billing rule itself. It does not apply to any fees on the course fee panel of the course.
The By Enrollment Flag if checked, indicates an individual charge should be produced for each course.
For example, if a student was enrolled in AC101 for 3 credits but had a total of 12 credits, a tuition charge existed that was a by enrollment per credit charge, the charge would be calculated based upon 3 credits (per individual enrollment) as opposed to 12 credits (overall credits per semester). There would be a separate per credit charge for each individual enrollment.
A charge that is By Enrollment and has artificial enrollments, will create a one charge based upon the amount in the billing rule.
Not Reversible
This flag is used to specify a charge as not refundable, or to specify where refund rates are to be obtained.
Y indicates a non-refundable charge. If a student drops all the courses and withdraws before stabilization, a charge with this flag set to Y, would not be automatically reversed. An example would be a registration fee that will not be reversed for a student who drops all courses.
C indicates refund percentages come from The Course Table (RGCRSE)
S indicates refund percentages come from The Semester Dates Table (FASCDT)
B indicates refund percentages are checked first in The Course Table, then Semester Dates Table.
