PROVO -- Beginning winter semester 1999, Brigham Young University will move its regular tuition deadlines to give students and their parents greater flexibility in tax and financial planning.
Students attending fall and winter semesters will now have an extra month to pay tuition, and spring and summer students will have an extra two weeks.Last year, the university moved its winter semester tuition deadline from December to January so that qualified students and their parents could take advantage of new federal tax credits related to tuition payments.
This year, BYU will also defer the tuition deadline from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15, 1999, and will make the change permanent on the university calendar.
"In an effort to continue to support parents' and students' ability to utilize the new tax credits, we have decided to permanently defer our tuition payment deadlines to after the start of classes," said Clyde R. Morrell, assistant administrative vice president, finance. "This will give people the flexibility of paying tuition in the calendar year that best matches their personal tax planning."
Tuition payments for fall semester and spring and summer terms have been changed in order to avoid confusion and to provide consistency, Morrell said. Students can now plan on the deadline falling on the last day to add classes.
Students who have registered for winter semester and choose to discontinue are responsible for dropping their classes prior to the first day of school in order to avoid any tuition charges.
To allow for flexibility, BYU will accept tuition payments for winter semester during the remainder of 1998 or through Jan. 15, 1999. A late payment fee of $90 will be assessed for tuition that has not been received by Jan. 15.
BYU students will receive a letter from President Merrill J. Bateman announcing the change, as well as information concerning tax benefits for college students and their parents.