Fees

SUMMARY OF MANDATORY FEES

For 2022-2023 full-time grad students, the average annual mandatory university fees are ~$1,350 for domestic students or ~$1,900 for international students, excluding the mandatory health insurance fee, tuition costs, and taxes.

• • The annual $3,076 health insurance fee is discussed separately on our Health Insurance page [coming soon].

  • Tuition costs as much as $1,233 per credit, and is specific to the program, a tuition waiver, etc. (more info is here, or for the Law School here)

  • Taxes are ~13-17% of your income, and vary by country of citizenship (more info is in the Taxes section below)

For complete information on UMassD grad student income and expenses, see the Budgeting page [coming soon].

Mandatory School Fees Per Year*

   $131.22 - Student Activity Fee (charged as $65.61/semester)

+ $374.94 - Technology Fee (charged as $187.47/semester)

+ $813.63 - College/School Fee (averaged, see the next section below)

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= $1,320 TOTAL per year for domestic students

+ $520.00 - International Student Fee (only for international students, charged as $260/semester)

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= $1,840 TOTAL per year for international students

* for 2022-2023, assuming full-time student status and 9 in-person credits

Important!

1. These fees are NOT waived for any student

2. These totals do not include the health insurance fee, tuition, or taxes

3. Optional fees are not included in the above calculation; see the Optional Fees section below for more info

MANDATORY COLLEGE/SCHOOL FEES

As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, these fees "cover costs directly associated with the delivery of instruction." Despite our best efforts, we do not have detailed information regarding these fees.

• Charlton College of Business fee: $496 per year ($248/semester)

• College of Arts & Sciences - Level 1 program fee: $426 per year ($213/semester)

  • • Humanities, social sciences, education programs

• College of Arts & Sciences - Level 2 program fee: $928 per year ($464/semester)

  • • Science programs

• College of Engineering fee: $1,350 per year ($675/semester)

• College of Nursing & Health Sciences fee: $1,172 per year ($586/semester)

• College Visual & Performing Arts Specialized Course Support fee: $902 per year ($451/semester)

• School for Marine Science & Technology fee: $843 per year ($421.50/semester)

• UMass Law Student bar fee and registration fee: $275 per year ($137.50/semester)

  • • See https://www.umassd.edu/law/admissions/tuition/, the "Law Fall & Spring Semester Cost Chart" pdf

MANDATORY SEMESTERLY FEES

Student Activity Fee: $65.61 per semester

• As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "supports all student groups, student publications and various other student-related activities."

• We generated a draft flowchart of the Student Activity Fee process from 2020 (see the bottom of this page). This is the best possible information we are able to obtain. If you are interested in helping to update it, please let us know!

Technology Fee: $187.47 per semester

• • • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "supports the technology infrastructure and educational environment necessary to meet the technological demands of the UMass Dartmouth community."

    • We are not certain what this description means.

International Student Fee: $260.00 per semester, only for international students

• • • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "is to support the infrastructure required to maintain University compliance requirements for the admission, enrollment, and retention of international students."

    • This fee goes towards the operations of the International Student & Scholar Center (ISSC), and pays for the maintenance of their ongoing services to international students such as printing I-20s, getting documents, supporting OPT and STEM OPT students, and processing student documentation.

    • Despite our best efforts, we do not have detailed information regarding this fee.

Program Continuation Fee: $250.00 per semester, only for students enrolled for 0 credits

• Charged to graduate students who are enrolled for 0 credits, such as near the end of their program when a student is working on a project, thesis or dissertation and has completed all credit bearing courses/thesis/project/dissertation required to meet the credit requirements of the degree

• We cannot find any information regarding this fee.

Student Loan Fee: varies per semester, only for students receiving financial aid

• Students receiving loans can find this fee in COIN --> Financial Aid Center --> View Current Financial Aid --> click the relevant aid year --> click View Scheduled Disbursement Dates. The fee is listed in the FEE column.

• This fee is charged by the loan management company (such as Sally Mae, Nelnet, etc.) to service the loan account. The university doesn't receive this money.

MANDATORY ONE-TIME FEES

International Orientation Fee: $260.00, only for international students, charged once in their first semester

• • • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "supports the orientation program."

    • New international students are assessed a fee that supports the international student orientation program. This fee funds the 2-day program including sessions, speakers, breakfast, lunch, and a city tour. Note that the 2-day orientation program is mandatory for all incoming international students, and the program (including payments to vendors) is scheduled in advance. Refunds are not given to students who miss this mandatory orientation.

    • Refunds are not provided if the orientation is canceled, such as due to bad weather in January.

Transcript Fee: $100.00, charged once in the first semester

• • • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "provides lifetime transcripts at no charge."

    • We do not know whether it covers both electronic and printed transcripts, and/or both official and unofficial transcripts.

Graduation Fee: $195.00, charged once in the last semester

• • • • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "helps to offset costs attributed to student services applicable to undergraduate and graduate students."

      • We are not certain what this description means.

      • This fee also covers the cost of binding your thesis/dissertation??? As found in the Thesis Guide Spring 2015 document on the Grad Studies Office's Student Resources webpage, this fee "covers the university’s costs in binding the library copies" of your thesis/dissertation.

MANDATORY TAXES INFO

Unfortunately, taxes are very difficult to calculate due to their complexity for different situations.

Roughly, we estimate that graduate students pay 13% - 15% of their salary per year in state and federal income taxes.

Additionally, international students have tax treaties that vary greatly from one country to another. For example, a student from Sri Lanka does not have any tax exemption, and a student from the Philippines has a $3,000 exemption. Other countries like Bangladesh and India have larger tax exemptions.

We urge all graduate students to research their tax obligation(s) in order to estimate their finances accurately!

OPTIONAL FEES

Some optional fees require action to accrue, but are worth consideration as the item may be desirable. Other optional fees are automatically charged to your student account, and action must be taken to waive them if desired.

Student health insurance plan: $3,076 per year, optional, automatically charged every August

• • The university-offered Student Health Insurance Plan is waivable, but very complicated. Therefore, the health insurance is discussed separately on our Health Insurance page [coming soon].

  • Charged automatically, can be waived manually by the student if desired

  • Offered through University Health Plans

  • More information is available on their Student Health Insurance Plan webpage

Dental insurance: $306 per year, optional purchase every August

• • Not automatically charged, must be manually purchased by the student

  • Offered through University Health Plans

  • More information is available on their Delta Dental Plan Options webpage

Commuter parking decal: $170 per year, optional purchase every August

• • Not automatically charged, must be manually purchased by the student

  • One-semester decals are also available

  • Information about the parking decal can be found on UMassD's Student Parking Permits webpage

MASSPIRG fee: $9 per semester, optional, automatically charged at the beginning of each semester

• • Charged automatically, can be waived manually by the student if desired

  • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, "MASSPIRG is a statewide, student-directed, student-funded organization that advocates on behalf of students on issues such as affordable higher education, public health, and the environment. UMassD students have voted to fund a MASSPIRG chapter on campus through this waivable fee. Students who do not wish to be charged this fee must complete the online waiver process in COIN using the waivable fees link on the Student Center Page."

Alumni Association membership fee: $20, optional, automatically charged once in the last semester

• Charged automatically, can be waived manually by the student if desired

• • As found on the Explanation of Invoice webpage, this fee "provides you with a one-year membership in the Alumni Association. Any graduating student not wishing to participate in the Association must complete the online waiver in COIN using the waivable fee link on the Student Center Page."

LINKS TO FEES INFO

Here are important links to official university information:

• Graduate Student Tuition & Fees: https://www.umassd.edu/graduate/tuition-fees/

  • • School of Law Tuition & Fees: https://www.umassd.edu/law/admissions/tuition/

    • Online & Continuing Education Tuition & Fees: https://www.umassd.edu/online/tuition-and-fees/

• Explanation of Invoice: https://www.umassd.edu/bursar/explanation-of-billing/

• Cost of Attendance: https://www.umassd.edu/financialaid/cost/

STUDENT ACTIVITY FEE FLOWCHART

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