(10-25) 21:25 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- City College of San Francisco is notifying more than 18,000 students and former students that they owe unpaid registration fees and could face forfeiture of their state tax refund if they do not pay their bills.

The college is hoping to recoup $4.6 million in unpaid fees that date back about 10 years, and it recently hired a fee processing company to notify students and former students of amounts owed. For years, the college allowed students to take courses but never demanded payment.

That's about to change.

"We have notified our students that we will begin dropping them from their classes for nonpayment of fees, which are due at the time of registration," said Jennifer Aries, spokeswoman for City College.

The decisions to collect fees at registration and to pursue students - many have been thrilled not to have to pay for every class - are part of City College's overall effort to stay open and accredited.

Threatened with the loss of accreditation next summer, the college is frantically trying to resolve a checklist of 26 accrediting requirements it calls the "Roadmap." Seven of the 26 requirements or "standards" are completed, including hiring a permanent chancellor and adding permanent staff to its accounting office.

But another requirement is to provide "appropriate services and programs" for students, and City College is just 23 percent of the way there. Part of that includes making students pay for classes.

The letters inform students that if they do not pay the amount owed to City College, the college will submit their names and balance to the Franchise Tax Board, which can "intercept any refund they might receive," Aries said.

"Yes, I got a letter. It said you owe money and you'd better pay it or else we're going to call the collection agency," said one former student who asked not to be identified because he's working full time and is embarrassed about the situation.

He owes $200, which is typical. The most owed by any one person is $2,822.

"It was nice because it was kind of laissez-faire," the former student said, recalling the years he paid for classes on his own timetable. "You knew that if you didn't have the money, you could still sign up for classes. It was a godsend.

"I was working two jobs, but I was always behind. My rent was large - that's San Francisco. I was making like, $20,000 or $25,000 a year - and if City College lets you pay later, then City College becomes the last priority. I have the money now, and I'm finally going to pay it," he said. "And especially with the dire straits City College is in, I'm going to feel good about paying it."

Officials at City College - which came close to bankruptcy last fall - realized after the accrediting crackdown forced them to take a closer look last year that they were losing about $400,000 annually with that kindly approach, a story The Chronicle broke last October.

Now, when spring registration begins on Nov. 12, students who can't pay for classes right away will be offered a payment schedule for an additional $18 fee, said Faye Naples, City College's new vice chancellor for student development, one of several new administrators hired to lend stability to the college that let most of its permanent leadership go in recent years as state education funding dwindled.

Current and former students who owe past registration fees are being offered a six- or 12-month payment plan. Since Oct. 1, when the program began, 112 people have signed up and have paid a collective $8,797.

"Our students know that we are in a serious transition to right-size the college," Naples said.

That's little comfort to students like Itzel Calvo, 19, who owes $1,000 from last semester.

Calvo grew up in Oregon after arriving in the United States from Mexico at age 4 without legal documentation. Though she is low-income, she can't qualify for financial aid or a state-permitted fee waiver because she didn't graduate from a California high school. She and her family moved to California last year. And because she isn't in the country legally, the college requires her to pay out-of-state tuition: $209 a unit versus $46 a unit paid by state residents.

"I don't have money to pay," Calvo said. "And the payment plan is not affordable. It's asking for 20 percent down on your whole tuition."

If she were taking a full load of classes, she would have to pay $4,000 each semester, Calvo said. So she's taking just two classes and has had to ask her parents for help - though they can ill afford it, she said.

Calvo, who serves as a student senator, recently spoke about the new payment policy with Naples, who heads the program.

"She said she thought it was a good idea so students would not get into debt, and she said it was an ethical thing to do," Calvo recalled.

"I said, isn't it more ethical to keep students enrolled?"