Tuition Surcharge

Degree-seeking students who exceed credit hour limits towards their degree may be subject to a 50 percent Tuition Surcharge. The UNC Board of Governors defines exceeding credit hour limits as:

• more than 140 degree credit hours to complete a baccalaureate degree in a four-year program
  or
• more than 110 percent of the credit hours necessary to complete a baccalaureate degree in any program officially designated by the Board of Governors as a five-year program.

The surcharge shall be imposed on tuition charged in the current semester and in subsequent semesters where a student’s cumulative credit hours total – with that semester’s course load included – exceeds the threshold.

The undergraduate credit hours to be counted for this requirement include:

• those courses taken at the constituent institution or accepted for transfer
• failed courses
• incomplete courses unless officially dropped in accordance with the university’s academic policy
• transferred hours, regardless of their application to the student’s major or minor, unless otherwise exempted consistent with this guideline

The undergraduate credit hours to be excluded include:

• those earned through the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or similar programs
• those earned through institutional advanced placement, course validation, or any similar procedure for warding course credit
• those learned through summer session or extension programs, either on campus or at another institution
• credit hours taken while enrolled as a high school student