FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Penn State does not provide tuition discounts for families if two or more children attend.

If you need assistance with the cost of education at Penn State, please visit the financial aid office for your campus:

University Park

http:/studentaid.psu.edu.

Directory of Financial Aid Offices at All Campuses

http://studentaid.psu.edu/contact-info/campuses

When the student has completed 59.1 or more course credits. All advanced placement or transfer credits placed on the Penn State transcript will count towards the total number of credits a student has accumulated, even if some of those credits do not meet the course requirements for graduation.  

Please be advised that a student’s tuition will increase when the Penn State transcript reflects 59.1 total credits. If the credits you are transferring or have transferred place you above 59.1 credits after the start of the semester, your tuition will increase immediately. You will receive a bill for the additional tuition in the first week of the following month.

Instructional costs are determined by who teaches the course, by the number of students enrolled in the course, and by the subject being taught. Upper division and graduate courses are smaller in size and taught by senior faculty. These courses involve more specialized instruction within the student's major.

Yes, any student that audits a course is subject to pay the appropriate tuition and fees.

Your credits must be reduced to less than full-time (12 credits) before any adjustment is considered. The effective date of the drop, in conjunction with the length of the course, determines if an adjustment is due. For more information about tuition adjustments, please review the Tuition Adjustment Policy.

Students who withdraw will receive a tuition adjustment in accordance with Penn State’s Tuition Adjustment Policy. Students who are granted a retroactive withdrawal will be responsible for 100% of tuition due. Students who withdraw from a semester due to medical reasons can petition the Bursar's office for a possible one-time waiver of tuition. Petitions will only be accepted up to one calendar year after the end of the academic semester in which the medical circumstance(s) prevented the student from completing the semester. For example, if a student withdrew from a spring semester, the petition would be accepted up to the last day of the following spring semester. For instructions on the petition process, please submit a Contact Us form.  A Bursar representative will respond as soon as possible.

Students at the Harrisburg campus, please contact the Harrisburg's Bursar's office for information on the required documentation and submission of the one-time waiver of tuition petition at (717) 948-6009, or by email at hbgbursar@psu.edu.

Yes, eligible spouses and dependent children up to the age of 26 are eligible to receive a tuition discount of 75% of the Pennsylvania in-state tuition cost, as outlined in Policy HR37.  Penn State Human Resources offers a fully automated tuition discount process for eligible spouses and dependent children. Dependent verification will need to be completed with the Employee Benefits office. In addition, please ensure that your dependents' Social Security Number is entered into Workday AND that the dependent has entered their Social Security Number at accounts.psu.edu. For additional information visit: https://hr.psu.edu/benefits/educational-privileges

Once all the information is processed by the Employee Benefits office, the tuition discount will appear on your student account. The 75% deduction will only be applied to the tuition. 

Tuition discounts will NOT be applied retroactively to previous semesters. If you have additional questions, please contact the Employee Benefits office at 814-865-1473.

World Campus students who take courses through other Penn State campuses will be assessed the Student Fee. The Student Fee is a non-refundable fee charged according to the total number of credits in which the student is enrolled immediately prior to the first day of the semester. Adding credits on or after the first day of the semester could result in a corresponding increase of the fees. Dropping credits on or after the first day of the semester will not reduce the fees charged.

The Student Fee (Student Initiated Fee) combines the previous Student Activities Fee and Student Facilities Fee. The Student Fee supports student-centered activities, services, facilities and recreation to improve student life and is the result of a student-led initiative to be more involved in the creation and allocation of student fees. The Student Fee is calculated in the same way as the previously separate fees, based on the campus and the number of credits in which a student is enrolled. The Student Fee is mandatory, just as the previous fees. Adding credits on or after the first day of the semester could result in a corresponding increase of the fee. Dropping credits on or after the first day of the semester may not reduce the fee charged. For questions regarding the Student Fee, go to www.studentfee.psu.edu. 

Sponsored students are defined as those students with full or partial funding support from a foreign government, corporation, or nonprofit organization.

To offset additional institutional costs for services required by sponsoring organizations, all sponsoring organizations will be assessed a $300 per semester fee during the fall and spring semesters, and a per semester fee of $150 during summer, for each sponsored undergraduate and graduate student enrolled at Penn State.

For additional information on the services provided to sponsoring organizations by Penn State, please click HERE.