All student account balances are required to be paid in full by the payment due date. If you have an outstanding student account balance, your account will be placed on a “financial hold” and you may be subject to one or more of the following:

• prohibited from course registration
• denied a diploma at graduation
• account may be placed with an external collection agency

If a balance remains due after graduation or separation from the University, the student’s account will be considered in default and may be assigned to an external party for collections.

1–29 days past due:

• Your account becomes past due one day after the payment due date.
• A financial hold is placed on your account and will remain in place until the outstanding balance is paid in full. This means: 
  • You are restricted from registering for the subsequent semesters/terms, and 
  • The release of your diploma is restricted.

30-89 days past due:

• An overdue reminder notice is sent to the email of record at 30 and 60 days past due.
• A financial hold remains on your account, which means:
  • You are prohibited from course registration.
  • The release of your diploma will continue to be restricted.

90-179 days past due:

• An overdue reminder notice is sent to the email of record at 90, 120, and 150 days past due.
• A financial hold remains on your account, which means: 
  • You are prohibited from course registration 
  • The release of your diploma will continue to be restricted 
• Account may be placed with an external collection agency.

180 days past due:

• The final collection notice is sent to the email of record.
• Account will be referred to an external collection agency if no action is taken within 5 business days of this notice.

JHU will offer the Nelnet payment plan to inactive students less than 180 days past due.

• There is a non-refundable application fee for joining the Nelnet payment plan.
• The payment plan prevents your account from going to a collection agency unless you default on your payment plan.
• The plan does not remove the financial hold on your student account until your outstanding balance has been paid in full.

For more information about the Nelnet payment plan, please request support through SEAM’s online form. 

Once an account is 180 days past due, it is forwarded to an external collection agency. The external collection agency will contact you directly. To make payment arrangements, you must contact the collection agency. JHU is unable to return your account to the university once assigned to an agency due to our contractual agreement. You will have 90 days (from the date of placement) to pay your debt in full before a report is filed to the credit bureau.  

If your account has been placed with an external collection agency, please read the information below.

• You must pay your debt in full to the collection agency.
  • When your balance is paid in full to the collection agency, payment will be forwarded to JHU the following month and posted to your JHU student account.
  • Once your payment is posted, your financial hold will be removed automatically.
  • Immediately after you have paid the full balance to the collection agency, you can fill out SEAM’s online form to request your financial hold is lifted. Once the form is complete, confirmation of receipt will be sent to you and a member of our team will be in touch.
• There are no collection fees or interest added to the amount placed with the collection agency. However, there are convenience fees when using credit card/ACH transactions.
• JHU does not offer reduced settlement on debt owed.

Eastern Revenue:

• Phone: (866)-337-8875
• Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. EST

Access Receivable:

• Phone: (877)-276-8600/(866)-765-3310
• Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. EST

Cedar Financial: 

• Phone: Local (818)-791-4480
• International (818)-936-6213  
• Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Pacific   

Security Credit Systems:  

• Phone: (800)-836-4568 
• Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

A returned check fee may be assessed on paper and electronic Automated Clearing House (ACH) check payments that the bank returns. As a result of a returned check, you may be removed from courses for which you are currently registered.