Frequently Asked Questions About...Bills

When is the bill due? Can I pay in installments?
The bill is due by the date on your eBill. If you are interested in paying your bill in monthly installments, you may still enroll with Tuition Management Sytstems (TMS) at http://www.afford.com

Can I pay with credit cards?
Credit cards are accepted through Tuition Management Systems (TMS). Spring and/or fall semester bills may be paid by MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. A convenience fee that is determined by the amount that is being paid will be charged to the customer.

Account balances may also be paid by ACH (automatic debit) from your checking or savings account through Tuition Management Systems. There is a $5.00 charge for paying by ACH with TMS.

To make payments by credit card or ACH, please contact TMS at 1-800-722-4867 or make an online payment by accessing http://www.afford.com

What if I do not pay my bill on time?
Your account will be placed on "hold". You will not be able to add-drop or pre-register for classes. Eventually, your classes will be cancelled and your account could be sent to collections.

Why is my aid shown as "Authorized" or "Memo Items?" What do these terms mean?
These represent funds that should be available to pay for your bill, but have not yet been officially credited. They generally fall into three groups:

1. If you are a freshman, your grants will show as "authorized" since you have not yet registered for classes. However, they will move to payments after registration.
2. If you have Stafford Loans, they will show as "credit memos" until your money is received. This will happen at the start of school for returning students and in late September for freshmen. You can subtract the net loan amounts when making payment.
3. If you have outside scholarships, they will show as payments if the money has been received. However, if we only have a letter indicating that they will be provided, they will show as credit memos. Again, you can subtract the anticipated amounts.

My student loans have been processed. Why doesn't my amount due include my student loans?
See above question.

I haven't yet accepted my student loans. What do I need to do?
You need to go to the financial aid section of MyWM / Banner Web (http://my.wm.edu/cp/home/loginf) to let us know if you want to accept or reject your loans. Your loans will NOT be disbursed if you have not accepted your loans. If you are a first-time loan recipient and want to accept the loans, make sure you complete the entrance counseling, as well.

How do I receive a refund?
If the amount of your financial aid exceeds the College's charges, you will be sent a refund check. You may then use the refund for your books, living expenses, etc.

Refunds will begin after Add-Drop. Refund checks will be mailed to your campus mailbox or local address on file. Note: Parent PLUS loan refunds are sent to the parent who took out the loan.

Can the refund be deposited automatically into my checking account?
This option has been available in recent years, but is not this year due to the implementation of the College's new software. We hope to resume it in the near future. However, a refund can be placed on your debit card and used on campus and at a number of Williamsburg businesses. Go to http://www.wm.edu/auxiliary/idoffice/works.html for more details.

Why is my Pell Grant amount different than what was on my award letter? Your Pell Grant is based on the number of fall semester credit hours you are taking. If you currently have fewer than 12 hours, your grant will be reduced to three-quarters (9-11 hours), half (6-8 hours), or 0 (<6 hours). It will be increased when you add additional hours.

I applied by the March 15 deadline. Why haven't I received an award letter? This could have happened for different reasons:

• If you did not list WM (code 003705) as a recipient of the FAFSA information, it would not have been sent to us. You can check on this by going to the FAFSA website at fafsa.ed.gov, or calling 1-800-4-FEDAID.
• If we have requested more information after your FAFSA was received, you need to provide us the documentation as soon as possible.

Please contact us at finaid@wm.edu if you have more questions about your status.

I haven't applied for aid at all. What do I need to do? Can I still get grant money? You need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on-line at fafsa.ed.gov, as soon as possible. All WM grant funds are committed at this point, but you can still receive student and parent loans.

I have received a number of outside scholarships? Where do they show on my bill? See the "authorization/credit memo" question above.

Will they affect my other aid? Outside scholarships can change other aid. We will be notifying you in early fall if an adjustment needs to be made.

If you have a dditional questions about your bill, please contact

If you have additional questions about financial aid, please contact us at