Student Accounts
Billing and Payment Information
Bills
The Student Accounts Office issues three types of bills—semester bills, monthly bills and special bills.
- Semester bills are issued only once each semester and are mailed prior to the start of the semester. Students who have fulfilled all their obligations, such as filing the FAFSA, accepting an aid package, etc., will receive a bill reflecting their financial aid.
Students who make changes to their account, such as waivers, meal plan changes, accept/decline aid, etc., after a semester bill is printed will not receive an updated semester bill. Instead, students must sign on to myRedDragon, select the Student Online tab, select View Semester Charges/Payments, and select the relevant term to monitor changes in their account.
The due date for a semester bill is always before the start of the semester. Students who do not pay their charges and/or confirm their attendance on time are de-registered from their class schedule.
- Monthly bills are issued on or about the 17th of every month. All students with a balance due will receive a monthly bill. These bills reflect all changes (charges and payments) to a student's account since the last bill was created and are normally due the 15th of the next month. Monthly bills include any past due balance for all previous terms as well as the current term.
- Special bills are issued to students who incur a balance as the result of reductions to previously received financial aid or additional charges, such as returned checks. The due date for these bills is dependant on the timing (relative to the monthly bill process) of such changes.
Payments
Payments can be made in person, by mail, or online. Payments not made on time are subject to late fees. We accept:
- U.S. currency. Please do not mail cash.
- Checks payable to SUNY Cortland.
- VISA, MasterCard, and Discover cards. We do not accept American Express cards. If you are using a debit card please ensure any daily limits will not prevent the successful processing of the payment. Credit card payments will post to your student account the same day payment is received and will post to your credit card account the next business day after your transaction is processed.
In-person payments can be made in the Student Accounts Office, Miller Building, Room 323, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. To ensure proper application of the payment please have the remittance portion of the bill with you.
Mailed payments must be received on or before the due date to avoid late fees. A postmark on or before the due date does not constitute evidence of having paid on time. If paying by credit card be sure to include and clearly print the following information:
- Card # and expiration date
- Amount authorized
- Cardholder's name
- Street address and zip code where card statement/bill is mailed
- Cardholder's daytime phone number
- Cardholder's signature
Online payments are done via myRedDragon. You may pay by using a credit card or check account. If paying by check account you will need to provide your bank's routing number and your account number. After signing in:
- Select the Student Online tab
- Select "Make a payment/Confirm Attendance" from the Student Accounts portion of myRedDragon (upper right corner)
- Choose the relevant Term
- Select the "Accept/Pay or Decline" button at the bottom of the screen (for initial semester payments) or the "Payment" button at the bottom of the screen (for subsequent payments)
- Follow the directions and supply the required information
Third party payments are possible by choosing myRedDragon. Third party payment allows non-students to make payments on a student's behalf without requiring the student's myRedDragon access information. As a result, the only data that can be seen is the most recent billing information.
Before payments can be made the student must authorize such third parties access. This is done (by the student) by accessing his/her myRedDragon account, selecting the Student Online tab, and selecting "Set up 3rd Party Payment Authorization" from the Student Accounts section (upper right hand corner) of the Student Online page. The student will need to provide the e mail address of the 3rd party who will then receive an e mail from the college with a unique password.
To make a payment:
- Access www.cortland.edu and select the myRedDragon link from the yellow bar.
- Select "i am a parent and need to login" from Popular myRedDragon Topics.
- Select the "https://bannerweb.cortland.edu/payments" link from the 2nd paragraph.
- Enter the required information (student id, your e mail, and your password) and follow the directions.
Accepting Charges - No Balance Due
Students without a balance due (financial aid is equal to or greater than their semester charges) must still accept their charges in order to save their class schedule. This must be done on or before the date indicated on the face of the semester bill. To do so:
- Sign on to myRedDragon
- Select the Student Online tab
- Select "Make a payment/Confirm Attendance"
- Choose the relevant Term
- Select "Accept/Pay or Decline" from the bottom of the page
- Follow the ensuing instructions
Monthly Payment Plan
We offer the option of paying your bill, for the fall and spring semesters only, in five equal monthly installments. There is a one-time, per-semester fee of $45 to enroll in the plan and this fee must be paid with the first installment.
To enroll, check the option on the remittance portion of the bill if paying by mail or select the option if paying on line. The required payment is listed on your semester bill under "If Selecting Payment Plan."
All students enrolled in the payment plan will receive monthly bills with payment due on the 15th of the following month (the due date is printed on the top of the bill). The first payment for the fall semester is due on or about August 13 and the four subsequent payments are due in September, October, November and December (the 15th of each month). The first payment for the spring semester is due on or about January 8 and the four subsequent payments are due in February, March, April and May (the 15th of each month).
Any missed payments will result in late fees being assessed and a "hold" being placed on the account. Students on hold are prevented from registering for future terms, dropping/adding classes in the current term, and other miscellaneous activities. These holds are not removed until the current amount billed is paid in full. Holds are not removed simply by paying the prior month's amount due. If you are unsure of the correct amount due please check your most recent bill or call our office. Please note we are unable to discuss specific account information to non-students without prior written permission from the student (done by completing a FERPA authorization form). Please ensure such permission has been granted before requesting specific account information.
Financial Aid Refunds
Refunds from financial aid overpayments occur throughout each semester. The date of a specific refund depends on many factors, such as aid type, liability status, etc., but no refunds are issued before the second week of classes.
Whenever any financial aid is posted to a student's account a message is sent to the student's myRedDragon account. If this aid payment creates a refund the message will inform the student he/she has a refund check waiting for them in the Student Accounts Office.
Also, students are encouraged to monitor their myRedDragon account to check on the status of aid payments and refunds. To pick up any refund a student must provide official picture ID, such as a College ID or driver's license.
Checks that are not picked up by students after approximately two weeks are mailed to the student's permanent address on record. Changes to a permanent address must be made in the Registrar's Office.
- Students may have refunds directly deposited to their bank account. Please note that refunds can be directly deposited only to bank accounts that are in the student's name. No refunds can be deposited to a parent's bank account. To enroll, please download, print and mail a completed Direct Deposit form to the Student Accounts Office.