New Student Information

Starting college is a big transition in a student's life. The information in this page will help you become familiar with your student account and prepare you to manage your student account at Penn State (the information is also available throughout this website). 

The information below will help you become familiar with your student account and prepare you to manage your student account at Penn State (the information below is also available throughout this website). 

If you have any questions regarding your student account, please use the Contact Us form in the website and we will respond promptly to your inquiries.

Please note that important information from the Office of the Bursar, as well as other departments, will be communicated to you via e-mail. Be sure to check your Penn State email regularly. 

Your first contact with the Office of the Bursar will be after you accept your offer to attend Penn State.

Accepting your Offer

• To accept your offer of admission and pay your acceptance fees, login to your MyPennState account.
• Your first contact with the Office of the Bursar will be after you accept your offer to attend Penn State.

Deposit Information

• In addition to the enrollment fee, all degree-seeking undergraduate students must pay a General Deposit.
• If you will be residing in university housing, you will also have to pay a Housing Deposit.
• The Housing Deposit is applied to the student's first Housing and Food charge, and the General Deposit is applied to the student's first tuition charge.

New Student Orientation (NSO) is a required activity for all first-year students and optional for transfer students. During NSO, you'll learn about joining the Penn State community, meet other students, meet with an adviser to discuss your academic goals, and schedule your classes. 

NSO is the first step for students after you accept your offer of admission. NSO processes begin in March for summer, and fall admits and November for spring admits. Information about your NSO will be sent one business day after you accept your offer of admission via email.

You’ll receive information about how to schedule your NSO program and the steps you’ll need to take to prepare for it.  

You'll gain access to your NSO Tasklist which is your homebase for onboarding to the University. The Tasklist includes information about how to schedule your NSO program and the steps you'll need to take to prepare for it, including learning about how to obtain your Penn State id+Card and access your Penn State email.

Important information from the Office of the Bursar, as well as other departments, will be communicated to you via e-mail. Be sure to check your Penn State email regularly. 

Please note: The information above concerning NSO is general and may not pertain to every student. Specific information and more details will be communicated to each student individually at the appropriate time. More information is available at the NSO website.

To access your Student Account, follow these steps: 

1. Log in to LionPATH with your Penn State credentials. 

2. Click on the “My Finances” tab 

3. Select “Manage My Account/Make A Payment’ to open the billing and payment portal.

If there is a credit balance on your account, it will be refunded to you. eRefund is the fastest and most convenient way to receive your student refund. To enroll in eRefund:

1. Students: Log in to LionPATH with your Penn State credentials.
2. Go to your Student Home Base and open the My Finances tab.
3. Click "Manage My Account/Make a Payment" to open the billing and payment portal.
4. Navigate to the eRefunds tab.
5. Enter and confirm your U.S. bank account information (routing and account number).
6. Agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy and click "Submit". 

Once enrollment is complete, future eligible refunds will be sent to the enrolled bank account. 

An authorized user is someone such as a parent, guardian, or family member you give permission to access your student account at Penn State to help manage your account. By law, Penn State representatives can only discuss student account details with the student and the designated authorized users on their student account. Authorized users can: 

• See the student account activity.
• Make payments.
• Sign up for a payment plan.
• View the student's 1098-T tax form.

Students can grant Authorized User access to parents and family members through their LionPATH account. 

Please note this is in ADDITION to the delegated access you may have already granted via LionPATH for academic information. 

There are two options to add an Authorized User to the student account:

Option 1: Student adds an Authorized User from LionPATH:

1. Log in to LionPATH with your Penn State credentials.
2. Go to your Student Home Base and open the My Finances tab.
3. Click the "Manage My Account/Make a Payment" to open the billing and payment portal.
4. Go to My Account and open the "Authorized Users" section.
5. Select "Add Authorized User" and enter the person's name, email address, and relationship to you.
6. The authorized user will receive an email to complete registration and create a password.
7. After logging in, they will be able to view your account and make payments according to the access you granted.

Option 2: Authorized User requests access:

1. Go to Penn State's online bill payment/parent/authorized user login page.
2. Choose "Create New Account" or the option for Authorized User/Parent Login (not current or former student).
3. Enter your name, email and create a password to request access.
4. Complete the verification email sent to that address.
5. Provide the student's Penn State ID and date of birth when prompted.
6. The student will receive an email at their @psu.edu address asking them to approve or deny access. 

Once approved, the authorized user will receive an email confirming they have been established as an authorized user and can log in to view the account.

If the student does not approve, the account remains in pending status. 

Billing

• You will receive notification via your Penn State e-mail account that your balance is available to view/pay on LionPATH. Any Authorized Users on your account will also be notified through email.
• Billing begins in early August for fall semester, January for spring semester, and May for summer semester. However, this may vary slightly depending on when enrollment in classes occurs. Residence hall charges are included, if applicable. The payment due dates are shown on the billing and payment portal. The due date for the fall and spring semesters is after the regular add/drop period has ended.  
• Billing information will be updated closer to the start of the Summer Session.

student aid and your  Student Account

• The "Anticipated Aid" section on your student account shows your current known expected financial aid. If you have additional scholarships, grants, or loans, please refer to Financial Aid and Your Student Account. The Student Account Summary on Penn State's billing and payment portal will reflect the current information available.

payment options

Online payment options are highly recommended:

• The eCheck option is a fast and convenient method to pay your student account balance directly from a personal checking account. There is no charge to pay by eCheck.
• You may also pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express). A 2.25% service fee applies to all payments made by credit card online. We cannot accept credit card payments by mail, phone or in person.
• Flywire International Payments are available for payments from outside the U.S. For security reasons, Penn State does not provide its bank information to payers to send direct wire transfers.

If you wish to mail a check, you can mail it to:

Penn State
Office of the Bursar
103 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Please note:

• Your payment must be posted to the account by the due date to avoid a 1.5 % late fee (assessed on the total outstanding balance due). Please allow time for processing after mailing your payment (5-7 days).
• Payment plans are available every semester. You will see the payment plan offers available when you log in to your student account billing and payment portal. 

Organizations, agencies and donors offer scholarship opportunities to students who demonstrate scholastic merit or meet other specific eligibility criteria. The entity awarding the scholarship, not Penn State, is responsible for selecting the candidate and determining the value of the award.

If you are receiving an external scholarship, you can find more information on External Awards page.

The account holder will need to work with your 529 plan provider to determine what steps are needed to request a distribution to Penn State.

Many 529 plans now offer a digital distribution option, which saves time and improves transparency with real-time payment tracking. When requesting a withdrawal from your 529 account, check with your plan manager to see if a digital distribution option is available. 

Most 529 plans only offer a mailed check distribution option. These checks must include the student's Penn State ID and are mailed to:

Penn State
Office of the Bursar
103 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Allow up to two weeks for 529 plan payments to be received and posted to the student account. 

Additional information about the Pennsylvania 529 Guaranteed Savings Program (GSP) can be found on the Bursar website's 529 Plans page.