Since 1982, the Chancellor's Office has offered a service to our community college districts to help collect funds owed by former students. This program, known as the Chancellor's Office Tax Offset Program (COTOP), has been particularly useful in collecting on debts for which collection has proven to be difficult. Collection is accomplished by having the State Franchise Tax Board offset (deduct) from student debtors any state tax refunds and/or lottery winnings they would be receiving and forwarding those funds to the college districts they owe.

By contracting with the Chancellor's Office, districts can recover outstanding student obligations such as student loans in default, out-of-state fees, enrollment fees, library fines, personal checks written with non-sufficient funds, etc. A complete listing of the 36 types of unpaid obligations for which collection can be made using the COTOP program is available for review.