If you are attending UCI as a part-time student (either graduate or undergraduate), you are welcome to apply for and participate in PACE. Your enrollment status doesn't affect your eligibility for the plan or the PACE process. Just like full-time students, you will submit an application and receive a PACE agreement if you qualify. As always, your first payment will be due by the registration fee payment deadline, with subsequent payments due by the 10th of the following months.
Only the amounts of the monthly payments will differ between PACE plans for part-time and full-time students with the same residency status. If you have been assessed as a part-time student, your fee assessment is lower than a full-time student's--so naturally each of your payments will be lower too. Here's an example, using undergraduate fees for residents of California:
| Part-time Student | Full-time Student | |
| Fee assessment | $1065.00 |
$1517.50 |
| PACE #1 | 380.00 |
530.50 |
| PACE #2 | 355.00 |
506.00 |
| PACE #3 | 355.00 |
506.00 |
| Quarterly participation fee | 25.00 |
25.00 |
Note that the quarterly participation fee does not differ with enrollment status
.You can petition to change your status through the Registrar's office. Be sure to read the current Schedule of Classes and the Registrar's web page for detailed information about this process. In particular, pay careful attention to the deadlines which fall on the last two days of the 3rd week of classes.
When your petition has been processed, the Registrar's office will change the amount of your registration fee assessment to reflect your new status. Now what? Since you have submitted the first payment, PACE has paid your registration fees in full already. So what happens to the rest of your PACE payments? The answer can be a bit complicated.
Changing from part-time to full-time status means that you now owe more for registration fees. How do you pay for this difference? If you've already activated a PACE agreement for part-time registration fees, you can't start a new set of payments or add to the remaining installments to make up for the increase. PACE has already paid part-time registration fees for you, and you must take care of the rest.
You will be charged for the difference in registration fee amounts on your ZOTBill. The amount billed will be at least half of the educational fee portion of your registration fee assessment. At current fee rates, the educational fee is $905.00 for undergraduate residents of California, $965.00 for graduate residents (except GSM and medical students), and $1028.00 for all others. If you are a resident of California, the new charge will be $452.50 if you are an undergraduate and $482.50 if you are a graduate student. If you aren't a resident of California, you will be billed in addition for half the amount of non-resident tuition. That means the amount due on your invoice would be $514.00 + $1784.00, or $2298.00. The difference in registration fee amounts must be paid in full, in addition to your monthly PACE payments, to avoid late payment penalties.
Now that you have established full-time status, you won't need to worry about getting another one of these invoices again next quarter. We'll automatically send a PACE agreement based on your full-time registration fee assessment.
Changing from full-time to part-time status means that you now owe less for registration fees. Currently, your assessment would be credited by $452.50 if you're an undergraduate resident of California or $482.50 if you're a graduate resident. Students who are not residents of California receive a credit of $514.00 plus one-half the non-resident fee (or $1784.00), for a total credit of $2298.00.
Does that mean you'll get some money back? Not necessarily--a lot depends on your current PACE balance, and how much financial aid you've received.
When you activated a PACE agreement while at full-time status, we paid full-time registration fees for you. Changing to part-time status means that PACE effectively has overpaid your fees. We get our money back whenever possible by applying the part-time credit to your PACE balance, working back from the third installment.
Several campus departments have a claim on the part-time credit, making it difficult to predict whether or not it can be applied to PACE. Unfortunately, it takes a while to reconcile all the competing interests. The part-time credit may not be available to PACE until several weeks after you change your status. When financial aid is involved, it may not be offered to PACE at all.
You can help by communicating your change in status to PACE in Campus Billing Services as soon as your part-time petition is approved. We'll make a notation in your account, and advise you to pay any portion of your balance that won't be cleared if PACE is awarded the part-time credit. We'll monitor the reconciliation process on your behalf and advise you of any changes with a reminder statement. Please keep in mind that we share your interest in having the part-time credit applied to PACE as quickly as possible. Take a moment to read the scenarios below, and don't hesitate to ask questions if you need more information.
If you have submitted the first PACE payment only, you should check the total due for the remaining two installments. In many cases, applying the part-time credit still leaves most or all of PACE #2 outstanding, and perhaps even a small balance on PACE #3. You are responsible for paying the remainder of any installment by the scheduled 10th of the month deadline; otherwise, there will be a hold on your student records. Remember that late charges can be assessed if you haven't made any payment within 30 days of the installment due date. If you are unsure about the balance to pay, play it safe by applying a small payment to each remaining installment. Afterwards, you'll see the new balance on one of the reminder notices sent to you during the quarter.
If you have paid both PACE #1 and #2, the part-time credit typically comes close to or slightly exceeds the amount of the remaining installment. In the former case, you are responsible for paying the small remainder for PACE #3 by the scheduled 10th of the month deadline; in the latter, the small overage will be used to clear any other debts outstanding in your account. If you don't owe anything else, you should receive a refund check. Click on "Current Account" in your ZOTAccount Online to see if a refund is available for you.
If you have retired all three installments, then you have repaid PACE completely for full-time registration fees. When the part-time credit becomes available, we will use it to clear any other outstanding debts in your account whenever possible. If any portion of the refund remains, you should receive a refund check. Click on "Current Account" in your ZOTAccount Online to see if a refund is available for you.
If you received a disbursement as a full-time student, changing to part-time status may have reduced your eligibility for financial aid. Be sure to consult your financial aid counselor for the specific changes to your award. You may be informed that federal, state, and/or university regulations mandate refunding some or all of the part-time credit to the source(s) of your aid.
The rules are non-negotiable, so you don't get a choice about this matter. PACE doesn't have any say either, despite the fact that we paid full-time registration fees, in full, on your behalf. When the part-time credit is appropriated by the Financial Aid office, then it cannot be applied to your PACE plan. You must pay all remaining installments in full by the due dates printed on your PACE agreement.