What is the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge?
The excess credit hour surcharge (set by the Florida Legislature Section 1009.286) requires FIU and other Florida state universities to add a fee on each attempted credit hour that exceeds the total number of credit hours required to complete your degree.
The surcharge applies to all undergraduate students who started their college education fall 2009 or after. This includes in-state, out-of-state and international students.
What is My Credit Limit?
Your limit is set by your declared major. You will be notified by your FIU email and MyFIU when you have reached or exceeded the limit. Your credits are tracked in the excess credit counter.
Which Credits Count Towards My Limit?
The following is set by the Florida Legislature:
DO Count
- Credits taken for a declared minor
- Failed courses (F or F0 grades)
- Credits dropped after the add/drop deadline (DR grades)
- NC grades
- Withdrawn courses (WI grades) unless withdrawn for reasons of medical or personal hardship
- Repeated courses unless the student paid the repeat course surcharge (see Repeating Classes)
- All credits in your academic record (even if you have claimed Academic Amnesty or Academic Salvage)
- Graduate level courses taken as an undergraduate student
- Honors College credits
DON’T Count
- Credits earned through accelerated articulation mechanisms such as AP, IB, CLEP, AICE, or dual enrollment
- Credits earned through internship programs
- Credits required for declared certification, recertification or certificate programs
- Withdrawn courses approved for reasons of medical or personal hardship
- Credits taken for a declared double major
- Credits taken for a declared second bachelor’s degree
- Remedial and English-as-a-second-language credits
- Credits taken by active-duty military personnel
- Credits earned in military science courses that are part of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)
- Transferred credits that are non-degree applicable. Note: Credits earned as part of an Associate of Arts degree from a Florida State College may NOT be excluded.
Petition to Remove Credits from Excess Credit Counter
Coursework that may be petitioned for exclusion include the following:
- College credit earned through non-FIU Dual Enrollment
- Credit hours required for certification, recertification, or certificate programs (certificate must have been declared prior to the end of drop/add for the current semester)
- Courses from which the student withdraws for reasons of medical or personal hardship (documentation must be provided)
- Credit hours taken to achieve a second major or second bachelor's (second major/second bachelor's must have been declared prior to the end of drop/add for the current semester)
- Credit hours taken by active-duty military personnel (DD-214 or letter form your superior officer with dates of service must be provided)
Contact your advisor if you feel that some of your courses can be excluded from your excess credit counter. Your advisor will review your academic record and verify if any exclusions can be applied.
To view your Excess Credit Counter and submit a petition, follow these steps:
- Log into MyFIU. See Access MyFIU for help.
- Select the the 'Academic Records' tile, then click 'View Excess Credit Hours.'
- Your counter will display your cohort, threshold and excess credit hours on the right of the table.
- The 'Excess Credit Hrs Exemption' tab at the top displays the courses that have been exempted from your counter.
- You can petition courses to be exempted from your counter by clicking in the 'Go to Excess Credit Hours Petition' link. The courses you can petition are outlined in Florida Statute 1009.286.
- Select the course(s) you want to petition and select a petition basis from the dropdown menu; enter your petition comments and click submit.
- An advisor will approve or deny your appeal.
How Much is the Surcharge?
The Excess Credit Hour Surcharge is based on a percentage of the tuition rate (not including the associated fees) dependent on the ECS cohort you have been assigned. The 50% ECS rate is $52.53 and the 100% rate is $105.07 per credit hour over the Excess Credit Threshold. These amounts are subject to change as tuition rate change. For additional information, please check the Excess Credit FAQ.
| Semester You First Entered a College or University after High School | Excess Credit Hour Threshold | Surcharge Percentage of Tuition Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Prior to Fall 2009 | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Fall 2009 – Summer 2011 | 120% of Program Requirements | 50% of Tuition Rate |
| Fall 2011 – Summer 2012 | 115% of Program Requirements | 100% of Tuition Rate |
| Fall 2012 - Spring 2019 | 110% of Program Requirements | 100% of Tuition Rate |
| Summer 2019 or Thereafter | 120% of Program Requirements | 100% of Tuition Rate |