Student Account Services FAQ

My Payment Plan is an easy, automatic payment plan provided to students through Nelnet Campus Commerce. My Payment Plan offers three convenient monthly payments for the fall and spring semesters and two monthly payments for the summer semester. For fall, the payments will be scheduled to automatically attempt September 5th, October 5th and November 5th. For spring, the payments will be scheduled to automatically attempt February 5th, March 5th and April 5th. For summer, the payments will be scheduled to automatically attempt July 5th and August 5th. My Payment Plan is accessed online via your myOTC. Be sure to immediately sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day that you register to complete your registration.

My Payment Plan is good for one semester only and it must be completed every semester.

More information about My Payment Plan can be found here.

All students must sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day they register for classes in order to complete the registration process. When you are ready to register for classes for the semester, follow these steps:

1. Contact your advisor.
2. Select the classes you want to register for and hold your seat in myOTC.
3. Sign up for My Payment Plan the SAME day in order to complete registration.

Yes, you must sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day you register to complete your registration. You may immediately pay your entire bill in full via the Nelnet payment portal or you may pay in cash at the Springfield or Richwood Valley Campuses after your My Payment Plan is completed.

All students must sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day they register in order to complete and secure their registration. While My Payment Plan is a monthly payment plan which initially requires you to agree to pay your full balance over the course of the plan, be aware that any anticipated aid* will be factored into your My Payment Plan agreement AFTER you complete and submit the agreement.

*Anticipated aid is based on a complete financial aid file.

All students must sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day they register to complete and secure their registration. While My Payment Plan is a monthly payment plan which initially requires you to agree to pay your full balance over the course of the plan, be aware that any anticipated aid* will be factored into your My Payment Plan agreement AFTER it is complete.

*Anticipated aid is based on a complete financial aid file.

View additional information about My Payment Plan and anticipated aid here.

Anticipated aid could include any official funding you receive to help pay for college. Examples are federal student loans, pell grants, state grants, A+, private scholarships, institutional scholarships, foundational scholarships, 3rd party funding, military benefits, etc. Anticipated aid will only reflect and reduce your balance and monthly payments if your financial aid file is complete.

Anticipated aid will be factored into your student account balance viewable in your myOTC. For example, your registration charges will include all tuition and fees owed to the college minus your anticipated aid.

(Registration charges) – (Anticipated financial aid) = (Balance used to calculate monthly payments)

For example, if your registration charges total $1,000 and your anticipated financial aid is $250, your balance of $750 will be divided among remaining payments. Again, anticipated aid is based on a complete financial aid file.

When completing the My Payment Plan agreement, you must agree to be responsible for the entire balance owed to the college. However, if your myOTC account reflects anticipated aid, that will be factored into your total balance after My Payment Plan is complete.

Yes, your federal and state financial aid should update in real time. Veterans Affairs and active duty military benefits may not. For information on veterans or active duty financial aid contact the Veterans Services Office at veterans@otc.edu.

The college encourages you to file your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as soon as possible to avoid any delays in your financial aid disbursement. Deadlines can be found here. The same goes for scholarships, A+, 3rd party funding, and military benefits. The sooner you have taken the necessary steps for these funding sources to be showing in your anticipated aid, the better in regards to how your My Payment Plan will work for you.

If your financial aid is delayed for any reason and anticipated aid is not reflected on your student account when the first payment is due, you will be responsible for that payment (one-third of your total balance). Once your financial aid is processed, that amount will be reflected as anticipated aid in your student account. If your financial aid was enough to cover your initial payment, you may be eligible for a refund.

Bottom line:  File your FAFSA early, turn in all requested documents, and be sure your financial aid file is complete as early as possible. Be prepared financially for any payments scheduled to attempt.

All students must provide a bank account, debit card or credit card in order to complete My Payment Plan.

OTC will assess a $10.00 non-refundable missed payment fee if an automatic payment is unsuccessful. You may also incur charges from your financial institution as well as Nelnet. OTC will not re-attempt your payment, however your balance owed (minus any anticipated aid) will be divided among remaining payments.

If you register for classes but do not sign up for My Payment Plan the same day you register you will lose your seat in those classes. If you lose your classes for failure to sign up for My Payment Plan, you will have to login to your myOTC portal to re-register for classes AND sign up for My Payment Plan that same day.

You can put yourself on the waitlist for the section of the class you prefer, or you can choose different sections of that same course.

If you are waitlisted for all of your classes, you have no balance so you do not have to sign up for My Payment Plan until you are placed in a class via the waitlist process. You will receive an email to notify you once you are enrolled into a class you were waitlisted for. You will then have until midnight the same day you are registered to enroll in My Payment Plan. Once you have a My Payment Plan established for the semester, you do not need to do it again. So, if you are already enrolled in My Payment Plan when you become registered for a waitlisted class, there is nothing further you need to do.

The registration process is the same. You must sign up for My Payment Plan the same day you register in order to complete your registration. Earlier registration for these courses is key to getting the most monthly payments. For example, if you register for a 14-week course after the first monthly payment of the semester, you will only have two payments remaining on My Payment Plan. Another example, if you register for a second 8-week course after the first two monthly payments, you will have only one payment on your My Payment Plan.

Bottom line: Register for classes early in order to spread your payments across all three payment dates during the semester.

Like most financial aid, third party funding sources require you to complete the FAFSA, so complete that documentation as soon as possible. Next, work with your counselor at the agency or organization that provides your funding. They will need information from you in order to provide OTC with an official funding authorization. This authorization, once received and processed, will show in your account as anticipated aid. Your balance owed to the college is then reduced by any anticipated aid. Any balance remaining is then divided among remaining payments per your My Payment Plan agreement.

Student Account Services offers students their student account info online 24/7 via myOTC. Simply log in to myOTC and select Student Accounts. Here, students can view their Student Accounts dashboard, which includes their registration charges, anticipated aid, and several helpful links! From the dashboard, students can easily access My Payment Plan (to initially sign up and revisit later for updated information about their plan), their official monthly statements, the OTC SmartCard website, and more. Students can also email cashhelp@otc.edu anytime they have questions for Student Account Services!

Students can view their registration charges as well as any anticipated aid via myOTC. Simply log into myOTC and select Student Accounts. Students can also view additional details by clicking on My Payment Plan. Here, students can see details about their student account, My Payment Plan, as well as access their monthly statements. Information on the cost of tuition and fees at OTC can be found here.

During the process of online course registration, you will be prompted to review your registration charges in myOTC via the Student Accounts dashboard. This amount owed could change if you choose to re-arrange your schedule or change which courses you are registering for. It could also increase at a later time if you decide to charge books and/or supplies or if you are enrolled in an autoaccess course. All students should review their Student Accounts dashboard within myOTC once they finalize their registration and then regularly throughout the term. All students are required to complete a My Payment Plan agreement the SAME day they register in order to complete the registration process. Please see the next FAQ if you are curious about receiving an official financial statement from the college.

By registering for courses, each student accepts responsibility for all tuition and fees owed to the college. All students must sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day they register in order to complete their registration. While the student is ultimately responsible, the college will accept payment on the student’s behalf from any 3rd party payer.

All students must sign up for My Payment Plan on the same day they register for courses in order to complete their registration.

Dropping a course before the start of the semester will qualify a student for a 100% refund of the tuition and fees for that course. After the semester begins, students can refer to the tuition refund policy here for the tuition and fees refund schedule.

If financial aid has transmitted to your student account balance, you will be able to see the type of aid and amount received by viewing your account activity. Account activity is found online via myOTC, select Student Accounts. For additional information on the financial aid refund schedule, please visit here. Please note that not all students will receive their financial aid refund at the same time.

Anticipated aid is aid that is expected to pay on your account. Transmitted aid is aid that has actually been awarded to your account balance. Financial aid overpayments are reviewed for refund eligibility after the aid has transmitted to your account.

If the college needs to disburse a refund to you, it will be sent to your selected refund preference with BankMobile Disbursements, a technology solution, powered by BMTX, Inc. For more information about BankMobile Disbursements, click here.

OTC student email is the primary means of communication at the college. If Student Account Services needs to contact you, we will do so securely via OTC student email. Because of this, it is important for you to check your OTC email frequently. Any questions for us can be sent to cashhelp@otc.edu from your OTC student email.

OTC students may be eligible to claim an education tax credit for the calendar year. IRS Form 1098-T shows information reported to the IRS regarding your education expense during the calendar year while enrolled at OTC. The 1098-T form is made available by January 31st every year to eligible students through the Tax Information link in myOTC. For more information, please visit here.