FAQ

Your parent or other third party will need to be an authorized payer to make a payment or enroll in the installment plan for your account.  Students can grant authorized payer access through the ‘Bursar Payment Portal’ on Salukinet.  They will select ‘Authorized Payers’ and enter the payers name and email.  The authorized payer will then get an email to register.  More information can be found here: https://bursar.siu.edu/account-services/authorized-payer.php

Refunds are issued electronically via ACH Direct Deposit to your checking or savings account. To enroll in or update direct deposit, students log into SalukiNet and click the Direct Deposit task under the Bursar Refunds task.

You may verify that a refund has been generated and the amount by logging into your SalukiNet account.

Failure to register for Direct Deposit may result in a delay in the receipt of your refund, as it will be sent as a check to your mailing address.

*It is the student's responsibility to update all banking information and address information. Incorrect or missing banking or address information will delay or prevent the receipt of of your refund.

You may see a hold on your account for Admissions, Health Service, Bursar, etc.  For a list of holds and their meanings click https://registrar.siu.edu/luminis/holdshelp.php

If you have a bursar hold, a bursar hold is a financial hold that may prevent you from enrolling for classes. If your past-due balance is greater than $1,500.00, a BR hold will prevent you from registering for classes.

The tuition and fees that you pay cover only a part of the total cost of instruction at state universities. Each year money received by universities from the state covers some of the costs of higher education, thus allowing us to charge you less than the actual cost for various classes and programs. We are providing you the following information, as mandated by law, so that you may see in more detail how tax dollars lower your actual out-of-pocket expense for education. 

State of Illinois Public Tuition Statement - For fiscal year 2024, the General Assembly and the Governor authorized the aggregate amount of $1.3 billion to be appropriated from the General Revenue Fund and the Education Assistance Fund for operation of the State’s public universities. Each resident undergraduate full-time public university student received an average tuition subsidy of $6,790 from the State of Illinois, which was applied to offset the full cost of instruction.  This is not a scholarship nor is it an amount that will be credited to your account.  It is provided to inform you of how much of your tuition dollars are supplemented by public tax dollars.

If you have any questions concerning this information, please visit the Illinois Board of Higher Education's website.

Based on the Federal Title IV regulations from the Department of Education beginning Fall 2009, it is possible to receive a refund and still owe money to Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Title IV financial aid can only pay up to $200.00 towards a balance from the previous academic/financial aid year. Any remaining excess aid for the current year must be refunded to you, even if you owe a balance. To allow us to use your Title IV financial aid to pay towards your past due balance, please contact our office.

 Students must either accept or decline the following two questions:

(1.)In accordance with Federal Title IV regulations, do you authorize SIU to use federal grants or loans to pay for outstanding non-institutional charges (other than tuition, fees, room & board) including miscellaneous charges and fines?

• If you accept, current semester charges billed at the time of the financial aid disbursement are eligible for payment by the Title IV financial aid. If you decline, Title IV financial aid will pay only current tuition, related fees, room and board. Other current semester charges such as library, parking fines, health service charges, etc. will remain unpaid.

(2.)In accordance with Federal Title IV regulations, do you authorize SIU to use federal grants or loans to pay for outstanding prior year charges?

• If you accept and allow SIUC to apply Title IV financial aid to prior year charges, the amount is limited to $200 and you are responsible to pay any balance above $200. If you decline, you are responsible for any previous academic year charges.

*As a reminder, you may still owe a balance to SIUC even if you have received a refund. Please go to SalukiNet to check to see if you owe a balance. Keep in mind that you will not be able to register if your account is past due with a balance greater than $1,500.00 at the time of registration.

This is the most common misunderstanding each year. For 1098-T purposes, SIUC reports qualified transactions in the calendar year when amounts were billed and not when amounts were paid, received or posted. For example, students were billed in mid-December for classes being taken during the Spring semester 2025, so those amounts are included on the 2024 1098-T even though the actual payment may have been made or applied or posted during 2025.   

Amounts of qualified tuition and required fees reported on your 1098-T are defined by the IRS as "tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution". The IRS does not consider student health fees, transportation fees, insurance fees, or room and board* as qualified tuition and related fees, therefore, these are excluded from amounts reported on the 1098-T.

Amounts of scholarships reported on your 1098-T are for determining eligibility for the American Opportunity Credit and lifetime learning credit only, NOT for determining taxability of such scholarships. Your scholarships may or may not be taxable, refer to IRS Publication 970 www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf for details on determining the taxability of different types of scholarships.