529 Plans and other College Savings Plans

If your 529 or College Savings Plan has a billing office:
If your savings plan has a billing office, please have the financial institution contact cashiers@sbcc.edu for direct billing of registration expenses. 

Most tuition billing is only valid for one semester, please ensure that you request a new agreement to be sent to the SBCC Cashier’s Office from your financial institution each semester. If your agreement is specifically for one academic year or longer, you will need to email cashiers@sbcc.edu prior to your registration date for each semester to verify your intent to register for the upcoming semester. You will receive a confirmation email from the Cashier’s Office to your campus email. Please read this email carefully as this will include information and additional instructions specific to your third party/outside program. 

If your 529 or College Savings Plan does not have a billing office: 
     1. The student needs to register for classes or calculate the exact amount that will be due on the account. 
     2. The planholder will need to request a disbursement of funds to be sent to the Cashier’s Office for the exact amount due. The cashier will not post payment if the amount on the check does not match the exact amount due on the student account. Over/under payments will be rejected and sent back to the savings plan institution. 
     3. Once the check has been received, the Cashier’s Office will post the payment to the student account.

If you have a billing office: most contracts are only valid for one semester, please ensure that you request a new contract to be sent to the SBCC Cashier’s Office from your financial institution each semester. 

If your contract is specifically for one academic year or longer, you will need to email cashiers@sbcc.edu prior to your registration date for each term to verify your intent to register for the upcoming semester. 
You will receive a confirmation email from the Cashier’s Office to your campus email. Please read this email carefully as this will include information and additional instructions specific to your college savingvs plan. 

If you do not have a billing office: Please follow the steps from “How do I use my college savings plan to pay for my tuition” above for every semester.

If you are concerned about being dropped for non-payment before the Cashier’s Office receives and posts your 529 plan or College Savings Plan check, please see the following options:

Option 1: Pay for your classes out-of-pocket, once we receive the check from your savings plan, we will contact you via phone or campus email to confirm that you would like to utilize the check for tuition expenses. You will be provided with refund information to receive a full refund for your out-of-pocket payment to SBCC. We will not post any checks without your authorization. Checks will be returned to the program if we do not hear from you by the deadline listed in the email.

Option 2: Pay for your classes out-of-pocket. Contact your savings plan to see if they can send you a check directly for reimbursement for your out-of-pocket payment. It is your responsibility to ensure the funds are reported according to IRS guidelines.*

Option 3: (Due to COVID-19 and our limited on-campus operations, we highly discourage this option at this time) Send a request to your savings plan to send a check for Next-Day delivery. The Cashier’s Office must receive the check and post the payment to avoid being dropped within the 7-day deadline. Next-Day delivery must be received during normal business hours (M-F). Please factor in 1-2 business days for the Cashier’s Office to post the payment to the student account after the check has been received. 

If you have questions about how to have your savings plan pay for your books and supplies, please contact the SBCC Bookstore Accountant, Cyndi Rogers at:
clrogers3@sbcc.edu or 805-897-3472. 

Please email Cyndi from your campus email. Please include your K# and the name of your third party/outside program.

SBCC does not offer on-campus housing, please contact your savings plan provider directly for questions regarding utilizing funds for housing or other outside college related expenses. SBCC will not facilitate the disbursement of these funds.

While SBCC will not facilitate the disbursment of funds, your savings plan may be used for other college related expenses. To find out more and about IRS guidelines/requirements, please contact a tax consultant/advisor or your plan provider.*