Total Registration has worked hard to allow schools a variety of ways to calculate exam fees in order to meet school's unique needs. The fee calculation method(s) used will need to be configured on the Fee Calculations page, AP Exam Service => Configure AP Registration.
Before configuring the Fee Calculation method, it is important that schools have set up their Base Fee and Administration Fee on the General Info page, AP => Configure AP Registration.
- Base Exam Fee - the standard exam fee without any discounts. This should be the highest fee that an exam may be.
- One Time Admin Fee - this is an optional fee and is used to assess a one-time registration/admin fee to students. This fee will be assessed only once during registration, even if the student registers at two different times (as long as they use the same email).
Fee Calculation Methods
1) Simple Multiplier - This is the most common fee calculation method and is used by schools that have a fixed exam fee (with the exception of Free/Reduced Lunch students). With this system, the total fee is calculated by multiplying the number of exams by the base fee.
2) Fee Varies by the Number of exams. This method is used by schools that have a fee schedule that changes depending on the number of exams. This can manifest itself in several ways:
- The first exam is a lower cost and other exams are at the base fee
- The cost of an exam decreases with the number of exams
- When students take multiple exams they receive a discount
In order to use this fee calculation method, schools will need to set up the amount each exam is discounted from the base fee. This fee calculation method does not care which exams are being registered for, just how many exams are registered for.
3) Fee Varies By Exam (Dependent on which exams students register for). In some states/districts/schools, certain exams are a different cost, either more (discount) or less (premium) than the base fee. This may be due to state policy or a grant the school has received. A common example is that science and math exams cost less than other exams. In order to use this fee calculation method, the "Discount" needs to be configured for each exam that costs less than the Base Fee, This is done when setting up the exams AP => Manage/Set-Up Exams => Manage AP Exams. Each exam that does not have a discount will be charged the base fee. Schools have the ability to set the exam fee differently for students in a class, students not in a class and not attenders, for both Free/Reduced Lunch students and students that are not Free/Reduced. In the example below the base fee is $96.00, students in the class are receiving a discounted fee, students not in the class pay full price and non-students (non-attenders) are paying $10.00 more than the base exam fee.
Additional Fees/Waivers
There are some additional ways that schools can apply fees or waivers that can be used in conjunction with any of the three methods above:
- A fee or waiver can be applied to students that answer a particular question a particular way. Some examples are:
- Students in a particular program (AVID) receive a discount
- Personal Checks have an additional fee
- Students who were given a special code receive a discount
In order to configure this fee calculation schools will need to check the box and then click the link to set-up the question/answer combination that triggers the fee/discount to be applied.
- Select the question that will trigger a fee. If the question is a free response question the school will enter a response that must be matched If the question is multiple choice, the school must select the response that must be selected to receive the fee/waiver (if multiple responses, each must be configured individually).
- Enter the amount of the waiver or fee. Fees will be indicated by entering a positive value and waivers are negative values.
- Enter a label that will be recorded with the fee/waiver.
- Choose how the fee/waiver will be calculated (Per Registration or Per Exam).
- Click Save.
- Repeat to add additional fees/waivers for different questions or responses.
- Charge non students or students who are not in a class a different fee. Schools have the ability to have TR calculate a different exam fee for any student who selects "No Teacher" or "Independent Study" Schools who wish to do this will need to check the checkbox and then enter the fee students should be charged if they have selected an exam and either "No Teacher" or "Independent Study". Of course, schools will need be using the "No Teacher" or "Independent Study" options for the appropriate exams. These can be configured when setting up an exam under Manage/Set-up AP Exams.
- Late Fees - Schools have the ability to add a late fee for students who register after a particular date. This late fee can be per exam or per registration. Schools will set this up using the Late Fee option (AP Exam Service => Configure AP Registration => Late Fee Info)
4) None of the Above - This is for schools who have fee scenarios that are not handled by any of the above. TR will need to build a custom fee file. Please select this choice and thoroughly describe your fee scenario so that Total Registration may assist you.
Free/Reduced Lunch
The College Board provides a discount to students who participate in the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program. With this in mind, Total Registration offers several ways to handle this. The most popular method is to ask students to report their status and hold registrations for approval when students indicate they are Free/Reduced Lunch Students. Schools then have the ability to verify eligibility. If the waiver request is approved, TR will calculate the appropriate waiver and email students a confirmation with the waivers applied and send information about logging in to pay (if school has payment processing). If a waiver request is denied students will be emailed a confirmation showing their balance due with directions for how to proceed.
In addition to this option schools can elect to not ask students of their F/R lunch status, ask but do not calculate a waiver (informational only, TR does not take any action) and the last option of automatically calculating a waiver without approval (only recommended for schools that have a very large percentage of F/R students).
Financial Assistance
Similar to the Free/Reduced Lunch approval process, schools can ask students if they are requesting Financial Assistance. The text of this question is configurable by the school to reflect any question desired. The most popular way to use this is to ask students if they are requesting financial assistance and then hold the registration for approval if students answer Yes to this question. Schools will then approve or deny these requests and apply the appropriate waiver. After approval or denial, TR will send the student an email with directions on how to pay any balance due. The school has three options for approval or denial:
- Deny the request - students registration will be approved with no waivers
- Approve with and apply a waiver per-exam - a waiver will be recorded for each exam
- Approve with a Single Waiver - schools can apply a single waiver for the registration
Special Waivers
The special-waiver approval process is helpful for schools that cannot accomplish their needs using the settings above. For example, schools that have fees vary for certain exams, but based on the number of the certain exams the student is taking (an example: STEM exam fee is waived for the first STEM exam). Most schools will not need to use this feature.
When students indicate yes to the special-waiver question, their registration will be held pending, and you will be able to "micro-manage" all the waivers for all the exams. The system will give you all the information (exams, F/R status, Financial Assistance status, etc.) in order to apply the appropriate waivers. Students who also answer "yes" to the free/reduced lunch question or the financial assistance question will be held pending for this waiver instead of showing on the other pending lists. You can approve their F/R or financial assistance status when approving this waiver. Learn more about Special Waivers at Configuring AP Special Fee Waivers.