The Office of the Bursar is responsible for the maintenance of student accounts pertaining to acceptance fees, tuition billing, charges, payments, financial aid postings, and refunds.
Please note: the awarding and disbursement of financial aid is managed by the Office of Student Aid.
When will my student receive a tuition statement?
Account statements are prepared on a monthly basis. The due date is indicated on the statement. Billing begins in early August for fall semester, early January for spring semester, and May for the summer semester. This may vary slightly depending on when a student enrolls in classes. Enrollment typically occurs at New Student Orientation.
Students will receive notification via their Penn State email account when their statement is available to view/pay in LionPATH. Residence hall charges are included on the statement, if applicable. Paper statements are not mailed.
Financial Responsibility Agreement
Students must sign a Financial Responsibility Agreement (FRA) prior to enrolling in classes each semester. The FRA is a student’s promise to take financial responsibility for payment of their account.
How can students pay the tuition statement?
The eCheck option is a fast and convenient online method to pay the tuition statement directly from a personal checking account drawn on a U.S. bank. There is no charge to pay by eCheck. Online credit card payments (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express) are also accepted. A service fee will be charged for credit card payments. eCheck and credit card payments are posted to the student account immediately.
If you want to mail a check, a payment stub should be printed and mailed with the payment. Please allow seven to ten business days for the payment to be received and posted to the student account. A late fee applies if payment is not posted to the student’s account by the due date indicated on the statement.
Are payment plans available?
Penn State offers an installment payment plan every semester. Enrollment in the plan allows students/authorized payers to pay the semester charges (tuition, fees, and housing and food, if applicable) over four monthly installments in the fall and spring semesters, and three monthly installments in the summer. There is a $45 non-refundable enrollment fee per semester, which covers administrative costs. The payments can be made with eCheck or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express).
The link to enroll online in the payment plan is available in LionPATH once the first billing statement for the semester is issued. Students/authorized payers can enroll in the installment payment plan with an initial payment of ¼ of the balance for fall or spring, or ⅓ of the balance for summer. Enrolling after the first installment due date will require an initial payment of ½ of the balance for fall or spring, or ⅔ of the balance for summer (subject to change). Please check the Bursar’s website for actual installment dates.
What if a student has additional student aid?
The Anticipated Financial Aid section on a student’s tuition bill reflects the currently known available financial aid. Students with additional scholarships, grants, or loans that are not reflected on the bill should contact the office of Student Financial Aid.
Outside Scholarship Information
Many students will receive scholarships from various organizations, agencies, and foundations as they graduate from high school. For your student’s tuition bill to reflect these outside awards, it is important to send the scholarship checks as early as possible to the address below. Checks must be made payable to Penn State. Please include the student’s PSU ID in the memo line.
Penn State
Office of the Bursar
Attn: External Awards
109 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802
For additional information, please visit the Office of the Bursar web page at University Park.
eRefund
If there is a credit balance on the student account, a refund will be issued. eRefund is an electronic deposit of a refund into the student’s bank account; it’s the fastest and safest delivery of refunds to students. eRefund is only available to students. Parents receive ParentPLUS loan refunds by paper check. For assistance with eRefund, contact the Office of the Bursar.
Tuition Assessment & Planning
Penn State assesses tuition based on the student’s campus, college, major, residency classification, credit load, and semester classification. Once an undergraduate student completes 59.1 or more total credits (which includes credits earned through advanced placement or transferred from another institution), the student is considered to have obtained junior/senior (third/fourth year) status at Penn State. The Board of Trustees approves the tuition and fees for the academic year in mid-July each year. All costs of attendance can be viewed at the University Budget Office’s Tuition and Fees Schedules web page after selecting the campus location.
By law, Penn State representatives can only discuss the student account with the student and individuals designated as an authorized payer by the student. Be sure to ask your student to share any pertinent student account information with you or grant you “Authorized Payer” access to their student account in LionPath.
Remind your student to:
- Sign up for eRefund (direct deposit)
- Grant online “Authorized Payer” access for parents/other individuals (optional)
- Grant online “Delegated Access” for parents/others (optional)