diff --git a/backend/src/components/sdc.js b/backend/src/components/sdc.js
index 0056c44d..4d1fe76f 100644
--- a/backend/src/components/sdc.js
+++ b/backend/src/components/sdc.js
@@ -334,8 +334,8 @@ async function updateAndValidateSdcSchoolCollectionStudent(req, res) {
 
     payload.sdcSchoolCollectionStudentValidationIssues = null;
     payload.sdcSchoolCollectionStudentEnrolledPrograms = null;
-    if (payload?.numberOfCourses) {
-      payload.numberOfCourses = stripNumberFormattingNumberOfCourses(payload.numberOfCourses);
+    if (payload?.numberOfCoursesDec) {
+      payload.numberOfCourses = stripNumberFormattingNumberOfCourses(payload.numberOfCoursesDec);
     }
     const data = await postData(token, payload, config.get('sdc:schoolCollectionStudentURL') + '/false', req.session?.correlationID);
     if(studentLock) {