Financial Issues: Tuition, Fees, Loans, & Scholarships

Tuition

Tuition Deposit

Some graduate and professional schools at the University of Pittsburgh require tuition deposits to secure the admitted student's place in the incoming class. These deposits are nonrefundable and are applied toward the student's first term tuition costs. The schools that require deposits and the specific amounts are as follows:

Full Tuition

Graduate students enrolled for 9 to 15 credits during the fall and spring terms are considered full-time and pay a flat tuition rate. Students enrolled for 1 to 8 credits are considered part-time and pay for individual credits. Students enrolled in the summer term also pay for individual credits, regardless of how many credits are taken. (The Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business is an exception: full-time MBA students pay a flat rate in the summer term.) See Payment section below for information regarding the optional payment plan.

Tuition rates are school specific. Please refer to the tuition rate for the school in which you are enrolled. The University's tuition chart is online at www.ir.pitt.edu/tuition.

Residency/Reduced Tuition

Students who reside in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania may be eligible for reduced tuition through state appropriations (see Eligibility for Reduced Tuition below). Eligibility is determined by criteria outlined in the University of Pittsburgh Guidelines for Determining Eligibility for Reduced Tuition Rates, available online at www.payments.pitt.edu/tuitionguide.html.

Financial Obligation of Students

The University of Pittsburgh has the right to withhold services if a student defaults on any financial obligation until repayment arrangements have been made that are satisfactory to the office or department to which the debt is owed.

Fees

Mandatory Fees

The following are mandatory fees assessed to students each term (current rates are available online at www.ir.pitt.edu/tuition):

Special Service Fees

These fees may be charged for University transactions that are processed beyond deadlines, due dates, and specified time limits.

Course Fees

Certain courses have fees associated with enrollment in the course. These courses are identified in the Schedule of Classes and Course Descriptions. The Schedule of Classes is online at http://www.registrar.pitt.edu/fees.html.

Program Fees

Certain graduate and first-professional programs have fees associated with enrollment in the program. These are typically fees for equipment or required insurance. Individual schools list these on their Web sites.

Financial Aid

Financial assistance for graduate students can be provided in the form of teaching and research appointments, fellowships, traineeships, tuition scholarships, and loans. The type of aid available depends on the school or program to which the student is admitted and more information is available on school and program Web sites. Admission to graduate study does not necessarily carry any implications concerning the award of financial aid.

Payment

Optional Payment Plan

Students who do not have an active financial hold are eligible to participate in the optional payment plan if the total amount due on their statement is $500 or more.

If eligible, students may elect to participate in the optional payment plan by paying the "Payment Plan" amount on the eBill. A $30 service fee will be charged and will appear on the next eBill. The service fee is assessed only once per term of participation in the optional payment plan. The number of installments is determined by the month students receive their first statement for a new term. That number is assigned and is used in calculating the "Payment Plan Due" amount. For more information, see www.bc.pitt.edu/students/payplan.html.

PittPAY

University eBills may be paid by cash, check, or electronic check (e-check); however, cash cannot be mailed or dropped into the Student Payment Center depository. To access PittPAY log into my.pitt.edu, select Student Services then PittPAY. Payments made in PittPAY by electronic check, or eCheck, are offered at no charge to you. While the University does not accept credit card payments directly, we have arranged for a third-party vendor to accept American Express, Discover Card and MasterCard when payment is made online through PittPAY. You will be charged a non-refundable service fee of 2.75% by the vendor for this service. This fee will be in addition to tuition, fee, room, and board payments when you choose to pay by credit card.

Due dates are clearly designated on each eBill. Payment received after the due date is considered late and the account is assessed a late payment fee of $50.

If students who have a tuition scholarship (for example, via a TA/TF/GSR/GSA appointment) receive an eBill indicating that their tuition has not been paid, they should immediately contact the school or department administering the scholarship for assistance in correcting the error. You will have to ask your department to request waiver of the late fee. Their request should briefly explain why your funding was applied late. The request should be sent to payments@bc.pitt.edu.