An enrollment agreement is the written contract between a career, trade or vocational school and a student. State licensing agencies and accreditors require one, and their checklists overlap: the parties, the program and its length, the start and end dates, an itemized schedule of tuition and other charges, the refund and cancellation policy as stated in the catalog, a complaint procedure, and the signatures of the student and a school official. Several require the student to receive a fully signed copy before instruction begins. A payment plan belongs on it as the schedule of payments the student agrees to.
What is an enrollment agreement?
It is the contract a student signs to enroll in a program at a career, trade or vocational school. It records what the school will provide, what the student will pay, and what happens if either side cancels. The school's state licensing agency and its accreditor both set minimum contents, and the school's catalog has to say the same things the agreement says.
Some states call it a student contract. Massachusetts lets a school draft its own, as long as it contains the fields the Division of Professional Licensure lists.
What has to be in it?
The lists differ by state and accreditor, but they overlap heavily. The items below appear on most of them:
| Section | What regulators ask for |
|---|---|
| Parties | The school's name and contact details; the student's name, date of birth and contact details (Georgia) |
| Program | The program title, its length in clock or credit hours, the schedule, and the start and scheduled completion dates (Maryland, Virginia, California) |
| Credential | What the student receives on completion (Virginia) |
| Charges | Tuition, fees, books and supplies, and the total cost, itemized, with nonrefundable items marked (California, Georgia, Maryland) |
| Payment | How the student will pay, including any payment plan (Texas) |
| Externships and placement | Any externship or clinical hours, and what placement assistance the school offers (Georgia, New York) |
| Refunds and cancellation | The refund and cancellation policy, worded as it is in the catalog (Maryland), and never in conflict with it (ACCSC) |
| Complaints | How to complain, and the state agency's contact details (Georgia) |
| Licensure | A disclosure where a license or certification is required to work in the field (Georgia) |
| Signatures | The student and an authorized school official (Georgia, New York), each dated (New York) |
When does it have to be signed?
Before instruction begins. New York requires the student and an authorized agent of the school to date and sign the agreement before the time instruction begins. The NACCAS policy for cosmetology schools requires a copy of the fully executed agreement to go to the enrollee before classes start, and ACCSC's Standards (Section IV (C)(2)(d)) require a final copy signed by both parties to reach the student before they start class.
What do individual states add?
- California. Education Code section 94911 lists the contents of a private postsecondary enrollment agreement: the institution and program, the program's length, a schedule of total charges with nonrefundable items marked, the totals for the current period and the whole program on the signature page, a caption reading "STUDENT'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" with the refund policy under it, and a statement above the signature beginning "I understand that this is a legally binding contract.".
- Texas. The Texas Workforce Commission's checklist requires the statement "APPROVED AND REGULATED BY THE TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION, CAREER SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, AUSTIN, TEXAS." and a revision date on the form, with tuition, other expenses, books, supplies and the total cost listed.
- Georgia. The Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission requires the refund policy to meet its minimum standards and not to contain a fixed refund table, and caps an application fee at $150, listed as nonrefundable.
Check the current version with your own state agency and accreditor before using any template, including the samples those agencies publish.
Where does the payment plan fit?
As the schedule of payments on the agreement: the deposit and its date, then each payment's amount and date. What a payment plan agreement should cover lists the sections a plan needs, including the authorization for automatic bank debits under Regulation E. If the plan's dates or amounts change later, the change should be agreed in writing and the agreement revised, not edited.
Can it be signed electronically?
Under the federal E-SIGN Act, a signature, contract or record may not be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form, and when a law requires the record to be given to a consumer in writing, the consumer has to consent to electronic records first. See Electronic signature. Whether your state agency or accreditor accepts an electronically signed enrollment agreement, and what record it expects you to keep, is a question for them.
General information, not legal advice.
- California Education Code section 94911
- BPPE: Enrollment agreement minimum requirements
- Texas Workforce Commission: Career schools and colleges student enrollment checklist (Nov 2022)
- Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission: Enrollment agreement/student contract guidelines
- Maryland Higher Education Commission: Private career school enrollment agreement checklist
- New York State Education Department, BPSS: Sample enrollment agreement
- Virginia SCHEV: Enrollment agreement requirements
- Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure: Technical assistance handout
- NACCAS Policy IV.03: Enrollment agreement requirements and checklist
- ACCSC Standards of Accreditation and Bylaws (July 2026), Section IV (C)(2)
- 15 U.S.C. 7001, E-SIGN Act
Every figure on this page was checked against these sources on Oct 16, 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.