Excess Hour Surcharge

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Quick Facts:

  1. It has nothing to do with a student’s financial aid.
  2. It was instituted by the Florida Legislature to encourage students to graduate within the minimum time required for the degree, by requiring Florida public colleges to charge an extra fee to students who go beyond the minimum requirements. We’re required to notify students of the excess hour surcharge requirement when they enroll; we’re required to notify them again when they’ve attempted seven semester contracts and three ISPs (or 124 billable hours).
  3. Students who take longer than the minimum to graduate could end up paying the excess hour surcharge for any enrollment over a certain percentage of that minimum.
  4. When a surcharge would apply depends on the amount of attempted billable hours for enrollment in New College contracts and Independent Study Projects (ISPs). A student who comes to New College right after high school could avoid the surcharge by satisfactorily completing all graduation requirements within the minimum 7 semester contracts (with at least four satisfactory units per contract) and 3 Independent Study Projects.
  5. Students are responsible for requesting exemptions (e.g., for internship units earned or for withdrawal due to medical hardship) through the Office of the Registrar.

What counts toward the Excess Hour calculation?

  • All contract and ISP attempts through New College or through off-campus study, regardless of whether the work is satisfactory, unsatisfactory, incomplete, or withdrawn (unless withdrawn for reasons of medical or personal hardship).
  • Contract, ISP, and unit credit accepted through transfer (unless through dual enrollment).
  • Contracts and ISPs repeated unless the student paid the full cost of instruction.

What does not count toward Excess Hours?

  • Units earned through internship programs.
  • Dual enrollment (college course work taken while in high school).
  • Contract and ISP attempts withdrawn for reasons of medical or personal hardship
  • Contracts and ISPs taken by active-duty military personnel.
  • All work taken by a student whose first college enrollment after high school took place before Fall 2009, or at a private college, or at an out-of-state college.
  • Contracts and ISPs required to achieve a double Area of Concentration.