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- Relieve students of enrollment debts
- Remove the Outstanding Balance Hold barrier restricting registration
- Provide opportunity to pursue and complete educational goals
- Prevent students from being referred to collection agencies and adversely affecting their FICO credit scores
Considerations for Funding
The recent federal stimulus (HEERF) bill includes funds for institutions to support students with immediate needs related to the ongoing national pandemic. Santa Barbara City College has allocated $1 Million to go directly to students with outstanding balances at the College. The Fresh Start Initiative has used these federal funds to pay off the debts of approximately 2,000 students.
Eligibility for the Fresh Start Initiative
This program is available to all current and formerly enrolled SBCC students, including those enrolled in our international program, undocumented students, and students falling under any other special programs, and who owe money to the College for the following semester(s):
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- Spring 2020
- Summer I 2020
- Summer II 2020
- Fall 2020
- Spring 2021
Additionally, the Fresh Start Initiative may be used for any academic terms prior to spring 2020, in which a student has an old debt inhibiting their re-enrollment at the college.
The Fresh Start Initiative funding may be applied to pay off your SBCC student account's outstanding balance. Student loans and debt from outside agencies are not included in the Fresh Start Initiative. No additional initiative monies will be issued in the form of either a refund or a credit balance. There are times a student has status changes (petitions, residency changes, etc) that result in a fee reversal for a prior semester's enrollment and/or mandatory fees. In the event a student has a fee administratively and retroactively reversed, and those monies had been paid by the Fresh Start Initiative, those credits will be refunded to the program, and will not be eligible for refunding directly to the student. If a credit remains greater than the amount credited for Fresh Start, the student will be eligible for the remainder of the credit by way of "Requesting a refund".
The Fresh Start Initiative may be prioritized depending on the quantity of outstanding accounts and available funding. Considerations will include total debt amount and source of debt (i.e. registration fees, library fines). Decisions will be made by a committee and all decisions are final. Students will be notified via their SBCC campus account upon receipt of credit on the student's account.
Questions can be sent to freshstart@sbcc.edu. Please include your name and student ID (K#) in the subject line of your email. Due to the volume of inquiries, responses to your campus email may take up to a week to be answered.