Frequently Asked Questions

Paying My Bill

Category: Billing

Paying Online:

  • Debit/Credit card (MasterCard, Discover, VISA, and American Express)
  • eCheck

Paying Over the Phone:

  • Debit/Credit card (MasterCard, Discover, VISA, and American Express)

Paying via Mail:

  • Check

Paying in Person:

  • Debit/Credit card (MasterCard, Discover, VISA, and American Express)
  • Check
  • Cash (exact change preferred)
Category: Billing

If you have been awarded financial aid by the bill due date and your aid will cover your entire bill, no further action is required for payment.

If you have been awarded financial aid by the bill due date and your aid will cover a portion of your bill, you are responsible for paying the portion not covered by aid by the bill due date or signing up for the payment plan.

If you have not been awarded financial aid by the bill due date, you are responsible for paying your bill in full by the bill due date or signing up for the payment plan.

Note: Financial aid funds are dependent on continued enrollment, the number of credits you are taking, and regular class attendance. Changes in any of these things can alter your financial aid award. If your financial aid award changes and you are left with an increased balance due, you are responsible for the increased balance.

Category: Billing

You are responsible for ensuring the payment is received by the college. If any documentation is required by the college, you are responsible for coordinating that transfer of information (college address, billing statement, etc.). If your outside resources are not covering the entirety of your bill, you are responsible for paying the remaining amount by the bill due date or enroll in the payment plan.

Ultimately, the student is always responsible for making sure their bill is paid in full. If your outside resource is never received by the College, you are responsible for making payment or your account will follow regular past due procedures.

Category: Billing

If this is your situation, your account may end up being considered "past due." Past due bills are subject to the following:

  • GCC reserves the right to cancel your class schedule for nonpayment.
  • You will be denied additional services such as:  future registration, release of your grades, or release of academic transcripts until your bill is paid in full.
  • Past due accounts with balances of $100 or greater will be assessed a one-time $35 late fee per semester.
  • Your account will be submitted to a collection agency and you will be responsible for additional collection charges of up to 22.7% of your unpaid balance.
  • Your account will be reported to the Massachusetts Debt Intercept Program (balances of $25 or greater) where state and federal payments due you, including state tax refunds, will be intercepted and transferred to Greenfield Community College until your bill is paid in full. Debt Intercept Program: Overdue accounts are subject to Mass. Department of Revenue intercept of state and federal payments, including state tax refunds (MGL C.62D). Please contact the Bursar's Office to dispute overdue charges or submit a written request for a hearing as allowed under MGL C.30A.
  • A $10 late fee may be charged to payment plan accounts for each month a payment is more than 30 days past due.
Category: Billing

You can sign up for the payment plan. This breaks your bill up into four payments with a $35 enrollment fee being applied to the first payment.

It may worth reviewing the refund deadlines to determine whether withdrawing and returning at a later date is an option.

Category: Billing

You can reach the Student Financial Services Office at:

Phone: 413-775-1301
Fax: 413-775-1133
Email:

For information regarding your financial aid package call (413) 775-1109.

 

Tuition & Fees

Category: Tuition & Fees

For the best estimate of your GCC cost of attendance, reference either our Tuition Estimator or page 2 of our Explanation of Charges document.

Category: Tuition & Fees

A student is considered in-state if they are a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident who established residence in Massachusetts and has maintained continuous residency in Massachusetts for at least six months immediately prior to the date of enrollment. For more information, visit our Residency page or contact Enrollment Services at (413) 775-1801 or (413) 775-1807.

Category: Tuition & Fees

When a student qualifies for NEBHE charges, they are charged at 150% of the in-state tuition rate.

To qualify, a student must be a resident in one of five of the other New England states and be pursuing a degree or certificate program not offered at a two-year community college in their home state or offered at a Massachusetts community college closer to their home.

For more information, visit our Residency page or contact Enrollment Services at (413) 775-1801 or (413) 775-1807.

Category: Tuition & Fees

From a student's prospective, there is no difference between day and D/D charges. These day charges are categorized as such strictly for college accounting purposes. If your bill shows D/D charges, they are treated as regular day charges for billing purposes. However, D/D charges may not be eligible for certain types of tuition and fee waivers.

 

Health Insurance

Under the Massachusetts Mandatory Health Insurance Law, all students who are enrolled in a degree or certificate program for nine or more credits must participate in the student health insurance program. As of the fall 2020 semester, we are required to charge the insurance fee even if some or all of a student's nine or more credits are remote. This change is due to the required transitioning to online education resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Verify that you have comparable coverage. Once you have done this, complete our health insurance waiver (instructions here). For more information, visit our Student Health Insurance page.

Annual coverage is active from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023 and costs $3,858. Spring only coverage is active from January 1, 2023 to August 31, 2023 and costs $2,574.

Yes, however, Federal financial aid/loan funds will not pay this charge without your written authorization. To apply financial aid to your health insurance charge, you must complete the health insurance section of the Acknowledgements and Certifications form (available on your MyGCC account).

Students are only eligible for the Student Health Insurance Plan if they are enrolled in 9 or more credits. If you do not see the health insurance charge on your bill, you have either waived the health insurance or you are not eligible to be charged.

There may be alternative insurance options available to you. Due to recent federal and state health care laws, students may be eligible for coverage under a parent's plan or a under a state subsidized plan. Your parent should refer to their insurance company or employer to determine your eligibility for coverage. To learn more about other insurance options, visit the Massachusetts Health Connector website.

Contact our office at (413) 775-1301 or to verify that your insurance charge has been paid in full. On a case-by-case basis, we will consider your emergency for expedited insurance reporting.

 

Refunds

Category: Refunds

No. Once you register, whether for a single class or multiple classes, you are responsible for the $20 non-refundable registration fee.

Category: Refunds

You may be eligible for a reduction of charges if you withdraw from your courses prior to the refund deadlines.

Category: Refunds

The first thing you want to do is refer to the refund deadlines for the term for which you are dropping classes. Generally, for the purposes of obtaining a reduction in charges, if you withdraw from regularly scheduled credit class(es) during the refund period dates, you will receive a reduction in charges of both tuition and fees.

To drop one or more classes, but not all of your classes, before the add/drop deadline:

To drop all of your classes:

Category: Refunds

You are not eligible for a reduction of charges after the refund period has expired -- you are responsible for paying all charges remaining on your account.

Category: Refunds

Financial aid awards are determined based on continued enrollment, the number of credits you are taking, and regular class attendance. Changes in any of these things can alter your financial aid award. If your aid is reduced, you are responsible for paying the owed balance on your student account. If your aid is reduced and you have received a financial aid refund, you may be responsible for repaying your refund amount.

For more information, reference our Financial Aid Refund Policy page.

Category: Refunds

Our regular refund policy applies for medical withdrawals. There is no reduction of charges for medical withdrawals once the refund period has expired.

For more information on requesting a medical withdrawal, click here.

 

Information Release

Federal law restricts Greenfield Community College from discussing a student's financial aid status or tuition and fee account information with any third party individual without student consent. An Information Release Form authorizes Student Financial Services staff to discuss specifics of a student's financial aid and/or tuition and fee account with any third party(s) a student designates (parent, spouse, employer, government agency, etc.).

No. Students who choose not to authorize the disclosure of any account information to anyone other than themselves do not need to complete this waiver.

Completing this waiver means you (the student) are waiving your right to confidentiality by authorizing both the Student Financial Services Office staff to discuss with persons you designate on the form, specific or general questions regarding your:

  • Tuition & fee charges
  • Cash type payments, waivers, third party payments
  • Balances (including credit balances)
  • Refunds for cash type overpayments or financial aid/student loan excess refunds
  • Tuition and fee account status (current, pass due, paid in full)
  • Financial Aid application status
  • Financial aid/student loan awards,
  • Financial aid requirements
  • FAFSA (Federal Application for Student Aid) issues
  • Any other issues associated with and affecting a student's Tuition & Fee account

Even with the student's consent, the Student Financial Services Office is prohibited by federal law from sharing FAFSA/financial aid information with third party entities/agencies such as Mass Rehab, SNAP, DTA, and Housing and Fuel Assistance. These agencies must obtain FAFSA information directly from the student.

The Information Release Form needs to be completed only once for each individual to whom you are granting access. You would only need to complete the Information Release Form again if you are granting us permission to discuss your account in detail with additional people or persons.

The password serves to verify that the person(s) you designate on the waiver form have authorization to obtain information about your account.

  • Log into your MyGCC account. Get help with your username and password if necessary.
  • Click on My Account
  • Under the Billing menu, click on Information Release Form
  • To remove permission, check the "Withdraw" checkbox next to the person's name
  • Click Save Changes

Permissions do not expire. You must complete this process if you wish to remove permission.