Payment & Fees

Process:

When you complete your registration, go to the fees tab and ensure everything looks correct. When your entry is complete, click "Invoice NSDA account" on the right side of the page. Then, login to speechanddebate.org/account to pay your invoice. View instructions here.

Three options for payment. 

Late payment will incur a $200 fee.

1. Pay by credit card on your NSDA account by May 10.

2. Send a check to the NSDA. It must be postmarked by May 10.

3. Send a PO to billing@speechanddebate.org by May 10. Payment that is mailed must be received by June 7 or brought with you to National Tournament registration (note that this will slow down your on-site registration process!). 

Checks payable to:

National Speech & Debate Association

401 Railroad Place

West Des Moines, IA 50265

Overpayment:

If you change your registration details before the April 24 deadline and that results in a lower amount due than what was invoiced to your NSDA account, the national office will correct overpayments during registration within one week. Overpayments will be automatically applied as credit to your NSDA account. If you wish to receive your overpayment amount returned in the form of a check after the National Tournament, please call the national office and speak to our finance department.

Judge Bond:

On the front page of your registration, you will select whether you would like your $200 judge bond to be reimbursed in the form of a check (to be returned after the tournament in the form of a check mailed to your school in July) or issued as school credit on your NSDA account. This selection is final on April 24 when registration closes. 

Overview of fees: 

1. Judge bond: Each school must post a judge bond of $200. This bond is in addition to entry fees and judge fees. If all judges from a school complete all judging assignments, the $200 will be returned after the tournament in the form of a check mailed to the school in July or issued as a school credit to your NSDA account. No judge bonds will be returned in cash and no checks will be returned at the tournament. 

Failure to report for a judging assignment or pooling assignment will forfeit your judge bond of $200 for the first round missed, and a $100 per judge per round penalty will be assessed thereafter. A school will not be permitted to compete the following year unless all outstanding fees have been paid. 

2. Entry Fees: Each debate event is $25 per student. (A partner event would equal $50.) For each speech event a student enters, the fee is $20 per event. (e.g., If entered in four events, it would be $80 total for the student). World Schools teams will pay an entry fee of $75. If your team does not stay within the National Tournament hotel block, you will receive a $25 fee per student added to your invoice.

3. Uncovered Judges: Schools must pay a $160 fee for each uncovered judge as per requirements on the Judge Requirements tab to the right. 

4. Credit card fee: Paying by credit card will incur a 3% charge of the total owed.

5. Speech piece details: Schools will be assessed a $200 fee if they do not provide their title, author, and ISBN information for Interpretation events, title and topic for Original Oratory, and title for Declamation, by May 1. Any changes to speech piece information made after May 1 will incur a $200 late fee. If the information is not posted by June 1, their entries risk being forfeited from the tournament.

6. Policy and LD paradigms: You must fill out the paradigm questionnaire for each Policy and LD judge by May 1 or a $200 late fee will be applied to your account.

7. Entry Agreement and Media Release Forms: A late fee of $200 will be assessed for forms received after May 10. A school/club risks forfeiting participation if the entry agreement form media release forms are not received by May 20.

8. Fees: All payment must be received or postmarked by May 10. Any late payments will result in a $200 late fee being applied to your account. All fees are non-refundable after registration closes on April 24. All fees on your NSDA account must be paid before your school may compete in the National Tournament.

More info found at https://www.speechanddebate.org/middle-school-unified-manual/