Tuition, Fees, & Financial Aid

Listed below are the fees applicable to students attending Southeastern. Expenses for food, insurance, travel, and personal needs are not included. Privileges for the use of the library, Ledford Center, recreation facilities, and wireless access are included in the student service fee. Textbooks will cost approximately $100 per class.

Because the Southern Baptist Convention strongly supports theological education, gifts from churches through the Convention’s Cooperative Program provide the financial foundation for our students. Each year, the Cooperative Program provides significant financial support per student. As a result, tuition and fees are significantly subsidized. For more information concerning scholarships and financial aid, go to www.sebts.edu/admissions/financial-aid/default.aspx.

Students must pay their accounts in full or enroll in a payment plan prior to the payment deadline for each semester.

Monthly Payment
A monthly payment plan (ACH) is available for Fall, Spring, and Summer sessions. ACH payments are those payments which students authorize Nelnet to process directly with their financial institution. It is a bank-to-bank transfer of funds that students pre-approve for their tuition expenses at Southeastern. Students who enroll in a monthly payment plan will be charged a Nelnet enrollment fee of $25 when setting up the payment plan.

Full-Time Status
A graduate student must take at least 9 hours to be considered a full-time student. An undergraduate student must take at least 12 hours to be considered a full-time student.

Tuition

Note: Spouses or dependents may be eligible for a partial refund of matriculation fees. See the section below entitled Spouse/Dependent Tuition Refund for more information. Those who qualify for this refund must complete the Spouse/Dependent Tuition Refund Application on CampusNet in the Accounting Services section.

Additional Fees

Note on Late Registration Fee: Student registration is not complete until a student’s account balance is paid in full. All student accounts with an outstanding balance as of the registration deadline will have their registration voided and will incur the late registration fee upon re-registration.

Note on Diploma Fee: The diploma fee must be paid in the Accounting Services Office before the academic apparel can be picked up at The Locker.

Textbooks

Students should estimate $100 per class. The cost of textbooks cannot be charged to student accounts at the Seminary.

Spouse/Dependent Tuition Refund

The spouse or dependent of a full-time student may be eligible to receive a 50% refund in registration fees following the semester deadline to drop classes. Applications for a Spouse/Dependent Tuition Refund received after the published deadline will not receive a refund. Only one spouse or dependent refund is given per each full paying student each semester. The refund is applied to the spouse or dependent who has the lowest amount of registration fees. Spouse and dependents are defined by the standards used for federal tax purposes. The following criteria must be met for a spouse or dependent to receive the refund:

• At least one member of the family must be enrolled as a full-time student.
• All fees for both parties must be paid in full by the tuition deadline
• Neither the student nor spouse or dependent is receiving the President’s Scholars Award, Returning Journeyman Scholarship, Active IMB Scholarship, MK Scholarship, an employee waiver, or any other full institutional tuition waiver.

Those who qualify for this refund must fill out the appropriate form available in CampusNet in the Accounting Services section. This form must be submitted each term by the appropriate deadlines. Refunds will be posted to the dependent’s student account approximately two weeks after the application deadline.

Graduation Application & Academic Apparel

Applications for graduation must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office before the last day of the add period in the semester in which the student plans to graduate. Student accounts must be paid in full prior to graduation. Orders for academic regalia (robes, caps, and hoods) must be made to Herff Jones during the semester in which the student graduates.

Refunds

A student who withdraws from the Seminary or drops a class before the last day of the drop period may be refunded his/her total tuition and fees, less add/drop fees. Requests to drop classes and requests to withdraw are made to the Office of the Registrar.

Financial Aid

Student aid at Southeastern begins with the commitment of the Southern Baptist Convention to theological education. This commitment is most evident in the generous funding of Southeastern’s entire operation. Gifts from churches and individuals given directly to Southeastern and through the Cooperative Program amount to a substantial annual subsidy for each Southern Baptist student. The result is that basic fees are kept at a minimum.

Other types of aid are made possible through gifts and funds established by individual and corporate donors. These make it possible to provide academic grants, emergency grants, and scholarships to qualified students.

Grants are available in small sums to meet urgent or emergency needs of students. Scholarships are awarded from available funds each semester after the last day to drop a class without academic penalty. Applications for grants and scholarships are reviewed and awarded according to seminary-wide policies and procedures. Information and applications may be obtained from the Student Resources and Financial Aid Office or from the Student Life web site at www.sebts.edu.

Neither Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary nor The College at Southeastern participate in any federally funded student aid programs involving loans or grants. Prospective students should not anticipate such aid being available while enrolled at the Seminary or College (Federal aid includes Pell grants and Stafford & Perkins loans). Southeastern Seminary is approved to certify enrollment eligibility for repayment deferments for most federal or state education loans received in college. Students should contact their lending institutions for advice and information. Such deferments should be referred to the Registrar’s Office.