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Excess Hours Surcharge Q&A for Advisors

  • Can UNF waive the Excess Hours Surcharge fee?
    No, an institution cannot waive Excess Hours fees-the language of the statute is mandatory.
  • Can a student who has changed their major since they have been at UNF exempt any UNF credit hours from the excess hours surcharge?

    Native UNF courses cannot be exempted unless they meet the following criteria:

    • College credits earned through an articulated accelerated mechanism, UNF courses taken as dual enrollment.
    • Credit hours required for certification, recertification, or certificate programs.
    • Credit hours in courses from which a student must withdraw due to reasons of medical or personal hardship. This is an appeal through Medical Compliance, which is automated if approved.
    • Credit hours taken by active-duty military personnel.
    • Credit hours required to achieve a dual major taken while pursuing a baccalaureate degree. • Remedial and English as a Second Language credit hours.
    • Credit hours earned in military science courses that are part of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
    • Courses taken to meet the Foreign Language competency requirement.
  • What about Internships?
    Internships, whether optional or required, may be exempt. UNF will exclude these hours automatically from a student’s excess credit total whenever possible. However, it is not always possible to identify internships on the academic record of a student, especially when taken at another institution. Cooperative educational experiences, directed individual studies (DIS), and other one-on-one instructional courses are not considered internships under the statute.
  • Do graduate courses count?
    Yes, graduate courses are included in a student’s Excess Credit Hour counter if they are being used towards the baccalaureate degree.
  • Are second bachelor's degrees included?

    Second bachelor's degrees or post-bac students are not excluded from the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge. However, since most second bachelor's degrees only require an extra 30-40 hours, students most likely will not end up in an excess credit hour situation.

    The threshold for a post-baccalaureate degree-seeking student (based on a student type of ‘P’), is established by subtracting 60 hours from the total program hours. If the student’s program requires more than this number, the advisor can request a manual adjustment from the Registrar’s Office.

  • What is the process for post-bac students to not be assessed excess hour fees while waiting on their first bachelor’s degree to post and transcript to be sent to UNF?
    At this time, the college advisor can request a manual adjustment from the Registrar’s Office.
  • What about students who are pursuing a double major or dual degree?
    The number of hours required for the baccalaureate degree will be identified by the students’ declared program based on the program definition in CAPP [SMBPGEN]. The numbers of hours allowed will be comprised of largest program plus 30 hours for each additional college/degree or 15 hours for each additional major.
  • Are courses taken as a transient student counted?

    Yes. Transient students are degree-seeking students who have been given permission to enroll in courses at another public Florida university or college. All transient credit hours earned at another institution and transferred back to UNF will be included in the attempted hours, and counted for excess hours surcharge.

    Please Note: if a transient course(s) are approved in a student’s last semester, excess hour calculation will take place after an official transcript has been received from the transfer institution and processed by Enrollment Service Processing. This could possibly impact a student’s ability to receive their diploma and/or official transcripts as an excess hour surcharge will be applied after the transcript is processed.

  • What about credit earned while on active duty military?
    All credit earned while on active duty is exempt from the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge. A student may be asked to provide a copy of their DD214.
  • What about credit for certification?
    Certain courses that have as part of the class instruction preparation for a professional certification exam, may be excluded from the excess credit total. Examples of these might be a computer science class that prepares a student for a Microsoft certification exam, or a foundational education class that prepares them for a teacher certification exam. In these cases, the one specific course that prepares for the exam may be excluded from their total, but not all courses in the degree program.
  • If a student matriculated before fall 2009, do they need to be reviewed for excess surcharges?
    The Exemption box on the Excess Hour Screen is where it is indicated that a student is not subject to excess hour surcharge fees.