Expenses

Amherst Campus
Expenses are approximately $17,399 per year for an in-state student. The following estimate of a year’s expenses, based partly upon last year’s costs, includes only those items which are strictly university-related and does not include amounts for clothing, laundry, travel, books, parking, etc.
The university reserves the right to change any fees without advance notice.

Estimated Annual Expenses

Massachusetts Residents
Tuition $ 1,714
Required Fees 8,207
Rent/Telecommunications 4,151
Meal Plan 3,327
Total $ 17,399

Non-Residents
Tuition $ 9,937
Required Fees 10,562
Rent/Telecommunications 4,151
Meal Plan 3,327

Total $ 27,977

For further information, go to: www.umass.edu/bursar/.
Annual tuition for New England Regional Students is $3,000. There is also an annual fee of $2,081 for health insurance, which is waivable only if the student has comparable coverage.

Tuition Surcharge
The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education requires all universities and state colleges to assess a tuition surcharge to students who exceed 118 percent of required credits in an academic degree program. This surcharge applies to in-state undergraduates and students enrolled through the New England Regional Exchange Program and is equal to the non-resident tuition rate per credit.

Payment Due Date
In accordance with university policy all charges for tuition, fees, board, and room rent are due and payable by the bill due date. Payments after the due date will incur a $50 late charge. There is a separate charge of $25 for returned checks. No student may register until all university charges are paid in full. Continued enrollment is dependent on timely payment of all university charges. Bills for all charges will be rendered in advance with due date shown.

Explanation of Fees and Payments

Curriculum Support Fee
The Curriculum Support Fee helps to offset several years of permanent reductions in state appropriations funding by providing financial resources to support the educational and general mission of the campus, including both academic and institutional support activities.

In-State Tuition
As a state institution, the university offers the privilege of in-state tuition to all students entering from the Commonwealth. Eligibility for admission under the residential rate is determined by policy established by the Trustees and is detailed under “Tuition Classification.”

Service Fee
Funds received from this fee are used to provide students with a comprehensive program of Fine Arts Council events and reduced student ticket prices, men’s and women’s intercollegiate athletic programs, and the transit system. They also support bond payments for student-used campus buildings.

Student Activities Fee
This fee supports undergraduate student government, various agencies providing services and activities for students, and over two hundred existing Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) as well as any new RSOs which students may create.

Student Health Fee
The Student Health Fee supports a student’s primary insurance plan and offers access to University Health Services (UHS), payment for services not covered by insurance, and support for campus health initiatives.
The Student Health Fee is automatically added to a full-time student’s tuition bill. Students taking fewer than five credits per semester and those enrolled in a degree-seeking program through Continuing Education or University Without Walls are eligible for UHS services. However, the Student Health Fee is not automatically added to their tuition bills. To register and pay the fee, these students should visit UHS Patient Services before the end of the Add/Drop period each semester.

Student Health Insurance Plan
Massachusetts requires full-time college students to have primary health insurance coverage. The Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) offers benefits for office visits, hospitalization, ER care, X-ray and laboratory services, prescription drugs, and more.
Students taking five or more credits are automatically enrolled in the SHIP and charged on the semester’s tuition bill. Students taking fewer than five credits, those seeking coverage for their spouse, same-sex domestic partner or dependent children under 19, and degree-seeking Continuing Education or University Without Walls students must come to UHS Patient Services to enroll and pay for their plan. Students taking online courses are not eligible for the SHIP.
Students covered under another major medical plan can waive the SHIP. Waivers must be completed by the end of the Add/Drop period to prevent enrollment and charges. Log on the SPIRE, www.spire.umass.edu; select the Health Waiver page link, then complete and submit the waiver form.
More information is available from the UHS Patient Services Department, tel. (413) 577-5192.

Entering Fee
The Entering Fee is charged once, upon a student’s entry to the university. It provides students with intramural athletics programs, an All Campus Card used as identification for various activities, and copies of official undergraduate transcripts.

Senior Graduation Fee
The Senior Graduation Fee is charged once a student attains a level of 87 credits and senior status. It provides students with state-of-the-art career information, job matching and employment referral through the Career Center, and expenses for the commencement exercises and related events.

Refunds

Tuition and Fee Refunds
A student who makes an advance payment and then for any reason does not attend any part of the next semester or term at the university will be given a full refund of tuition and fees (excluding the prepayment for counseling and admissions services).
A student who leaves the university for any reason, except as specified below, before a semester is completed will be granted a pro rata refund of tuition and fees.
For students receiving any form of financial aid the refund schedules as required by federal law will apply.
A student who is suspended or expelled from the university for disciplinary reasons forfeits all rights to a refund.

Refund Schedule

Regular Term
a. Up to and including the first day of classes— 100%.
b. Within the first two weeks of semester or term—80%.
c. During the third week—60%.
d. During the fourth week—40%.
e. During the fifth week—20%.
f. After the fifth week—no refund.

Summer Session
a. During the first week—60%.
b. During the second week—20%.
c. After the second week—no refund.

Room Rent Refunds
A student who has made an advance payment of room rent will be granted a full refund of rent, less the housing cancellation fee, blocked room fee and/or improper checkout fees that apply, if he or she fails to attend any part of the next semester or term, or does not reside in a residence hall.
Any students who obtain the key to their assigned accommodations and subsequently leave the university prior to the end of the first class week shall automatically be charged a minimum $450 Cancellation Fee. Any students who leave the university during the second through fifth weeks shall be charged a cancellation fee plus 20 percent of room rent for each week or part thereof. No refunds will be made after the fifth week of the academic semester. Refunds will be made during the refund period only to students who officially withdraw from the university through the Registrar’s Office and who properly check out of their assignment through the residence hall cluster office. The Housing Assignment Office is authorized to make exception to the above only for reason of “extreme emergency.” Any exception made, however, shall not apply to the $450 minimum charge which shall be levied in all cases automatically.
More information on the refund schedule or billing appeal process is available on the Housing website: www.housing.umass.edu.

Overdue Accounts
Overdue accounts will be considered sufficient cause for cancellation of registration as university regulations prohibit final registration, graduation, or granting of any credit for any student whose account with the university is unpaid. Any delinquent accounts will be cause for possible Administrative Withdrawal and must be paid prior to readmission to the university. Unpaid accounts will be referred for collection action at which point collection costs will be added to the bill, and payment of such will become the responsibility of the student.

Full Disclosure — Annual In-State Per Student Cost of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts is funded by several sources. A significant funding source is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which annually subsidizes the university’s costs to educate a student through annual state appropriations. These appropriations greatly reduce the cost of attendance for students. The average annual per student cost of education for the 2006-07 academic year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was approximately $23,276 and represents the total cost to support a student’s total university experience (instruction, research, student services, buildings and grounds maintenance, the administration, etc.). The state operating subsidy averages approximately $12,730 per student per year and certain other campus revenues are also used to support these costs. Tuition and non-auxiliary fees1 charged to in-state students in 2006-07 were $7,973 or 34.25 percent of the total cost of education. Costs for books, supplies, transportation, and room and board are added to these tuition and fee charges to determine the in-state cost of attendance estimated at $18,984. This is roughly the figure from which a student’s financial aid eligibility is determined.

1 Non-auxiliary fees include fine arts, curriculum, and student activities.