Office of the Registrar

Excessive Hours

Texas Education Code 54.014 allows colleges and universities to charge a higher tuition rate to students with excessive hours because the institution cannot receive state funding for the courses. UT Tyler charges out-of-state tuition for all coursework to students with excessive hours.

The text of the legislation behind the excessive hours policy can be found at:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/ED/htm/ED.54.htm#54.014

Students with excessive hours are defined as:

A) Texas resident, undergraduates initially enrolling between the Fall 1999 and Summer 2006 semesters who exceed more than 45 hours of the number of required hours for their degree plan, OR

B) Texas resident, undergraduates initially enrolling in Fall 2006 or after who exceed more than 30 hours of the number of required hours for their degree plan.

Students approaching, about to exceed or already exceeding either the 30 or 45 hour limits will have a CB30 or CB45 hold placed on their account. These holds are informational only and have no impacts on their own - any adjustments to a student's account as a result of excessive hours are processed separately from the holds. When the detailed version of the hold is viewed in Student Center each student will be able to see if the hold is marked as "Approaching", "Will Exceed" or "Have Exceeded". Those designations, as well as the description text for the hold, will help each student understand if/how they are currently affected by excessive hours rules as follows:

  • Approaching - Student is nearing the 30/45 hour limit they are liable to, but is not yet exceeding that limit. This version of the hold serves as an early warning and no tuition increases due to excessive hours apply.
  • Will Exceed - Based on enrollment as-of the Census Date of the current term, the student will be in excess of the 30/45 hour limit they are liable to at the end of the current term. Tuition increases for excessive hours will begin at the start of the next term.
  • Have Exceeded - Student has already exceeded the 30/45 hour limit they are liable to. Tuition increases for excessive hours are already in place.

Students wishing to file an appeal of excessive hours-related tuition increases due to extenuating circumstances may submit a fully-documented Application for Appeal for consideration by the Student Appeals Committee. If such an appeal is approved, a waiver of the tuition increases due to excessive hours will be placed on the student's account for a single semester. Students who wish to appeal these charges for multiple semesters must file an appeal each semester.

For students who have filed for graduation, an exemption to the payment of higher tuition for excessive hours in their graduating semester is available in the form of an automatically-approved Application for Appeal. While supporting documentation is not required, the student must formally request this exemption by submitting an Application for Appeal cover sheet and a typed letter noting they wish to claim this exemption. Because an active application or graduation must be confirmed before this exemption is processed, if a student submits this special appeal before applying for graduation, the appeal will be held without action until the Applying for Graduation process has been completed.

For assistance or clarification, please contact the Enrollment Services Center in STE 230.