Tuition Policies

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Continuing Education Program Discounts

Alumni of Fielding Graduate University’s degree-granting programs receive a 20% discount on tuition charged for enrolling in academic credit certificate and continuing education (CE) programs offered by Fielding.

Graduates of Fielding’s doctoral or master’s programs may request to enroll in additional Organizational Development & Leadership or Media Psychology program courses after graduation at a 20% discount.

Travel, accommodations and incidental expenses are not included in tuition and fees charged by Fielding. Fees, such as material fees, are not discounted.

Policy Revised 11/01/2015

Final Tuition Payments for Doctoral/Postdoc Students

In the doctoral/postdoctoral student’s final months of enrollment, tuition will be billed and payable as usual. Tuition stops when all requirements have been completed by the student, approved by the faculty, and received at Fielding’s administrative offices. If a student in the doctoral/postdoctoral programs receives a stop tuition date prior to the end of a term the student may receive a tuition refund. See Student Account Refund policy. 

Doctoral students must have completed all required academic, clinical, research and residency requirements, and have submitted the final copy of the dissertation, ready for the proofreader, to the Fielding administrative offices in order for tuition charges to cease.

Doctoral students are expected to file the final dissertation with UMI/ProQuest Dissertation Publishing within four months from the date tuition stopped, or their student record will become inactive. When a student record becomes inactive, the student will lose full library access (although the student may retain alumni access if they have a prior Fielding degree or qualifying certificate and have met financial obligations). In cases where a student record has become inactive, the student will have to be re-admitted to active student standing directly through the Registrar’s office. Minor extensions to the four month deadline for filing the dissertation can be granted by the Registrar.

The Registrar’s office verifies the completion of requirements, and establishes the tuition stop date for all students in all programs.

Policy Revised 01/01/2016

Financial Aid Adjustments for Leaves

When a student requests a leave of absence, their financial aid will be reviewed and any of the following actions may occur as required by regulations and policies:

• The student’s cost of education (or cost of attendance) budget is adjusted for the reduction of months enrolled. The student will be notified by the Financial Aid Office of any changes in current funding levels for any financial aid awarded that must be performed due to a leave of absence.
• A disbursement of federal student aid cannot be made to a student while the student is on leave, and students cannot receive federal student aid funding for time spent on leave. If a student has received a disbursement of loan funds for a term in which a leave is taken, the Financial Aid Office will assess eligibility for those funds, and some or all of the funds may be returned to the lender. The student will be notified by the Financial Aid Office of any funds that must be returned.
• Taking a leave of absence will result in a change of enrollment status, and any change in enrollment status is reported to the loan servicer(s).

Students who have prior or current student loan debt, should contact their loan servicer(s) to have a full understanding of the impact a leave, including a change in their enrollment status, will have on their loans. Some loans, particularly older loans with no grace period, may enter repayment and interest may be capitalized. Current information about federal student loans and contact information for loan servicer(s) is available through the National Student Loan Data System (www.nslds.ed.gov).

Policy Revised Effective 01/01/2016

Proofreading Charges

Fielding will pay the first $300 of the proofreading charges for the dissertation; students will be charged for proofreading costs that exceed $300. Proofreading services are contracted with an independent proofreader for all Fielding doctoral dissertations. The range of proofreading charges normally extends between $300 and $500, although in a few cases the costs have been much higher. Students are urged to prepare their dissertation copy in as careful and clean condition as possible. A major factor in the variation of the charge, in addition to the length of the dissertation, is the degree to which the copy is already in final condition. Expenses can be controlled considerably if APA-style guidelines are followed consistently.

Policy Revised 07/01/1999

Reduced Tuition for Advancement to Candidacy

Doctoral students who are nearing the completion of their programs are eligible for advancement to candidacy status , which grants a 30% reduction in tuition to eligible students who are paying a flat-rate tuition structure. Students paying tuition at a per credit rate are not eligible for the discount.

Clinical Psychology doctoral students who are advanced to candidacy prior to or while they are on reduced tuition during internship, will receive the cumulative benefit of both the internship and advancement to candidacy discounts.

Policy Revised 06/19/2014

Student Account Refunds

A student may have a credit balance in their account as a result of outside funding (such as a student loan or scholarship disbursement), or from a change in billing (such as a tuition refund caused by dropping a course), or change in status (such as withdrawal or an activated discount).

When to Expect Payment

Student loan refunds will be made in compliance with federal regulations to send any eligible credit balance to the student within 14 days of the disbursement. For all other refunds Fielding will make a good faith effort to issue refund payments within 30 days.

Students may enroll in the echeck refund program through WebAdvisor in order to receive electronic deposit of refunds.

Uncashed checks or returned refunds

Refund checks that are not cashed within 180 days from the date of issuance are not valid. If refund checks are not cashed within 180 days from the date of issuance, the student will be contacted. If the student is unreachable, a stop payment will be placed on the check. No later than 240 days from the date of issuance, the uncashed funds will be applied first to a current or past due balance (within the same award year or for a balance of up to $200, if federal student loan funds), and any remaining amount will be returned to the original funding source.

If a check or electronic funds transfer is returned to the university, additional attempts will be made to issue a refund to the student. If these attempts are not successful, the student loan funds will be returned to the lender within 45 days of the return.

Sponsors and scholarships

Certain scholarships and sponsors allow students to receive the credit balance of funds based on eligibility and the guidelines provided by the sponsor or scholarship program. If a student is eligible for the credit balance of a sponsor or scholarship credit, the funds will be sent to the student. Fielding will make a good faith effort to issue refunds for sponsor payments and scholarships within 30 days.

Monthly payment plan

Students on the monthly payment plan should consult their payment plan agreement and Student Accounts staff for additional information on refund amounts.

Dropping a course or withdrawing

A student who drops a course or withdraws from the University may be entitled to a tuition refund, and the recorded withdrawal or drop date is used to determine the refund. Non-attendance or non-participation in coursework does not constitute an official drop of the course or withdrawal. For students who have failed to drop a course or withdraw officially, the mid-point of the course period or the last date of academically significant interaction (as determined by the Registrar in consultation with faculty/program staff) will be used to determine the drop or withdrawal date.

Tuition Refund Schedule

The following tuition refund schedule presents the descending scale of tuition refund percentages applying to students who drop a course, withdraw or are dismissed from a program after the first class day has commenced but before completing 60% of the instruction in the course/enrollment period:

Financial Aid Returns

A student who has received financial aid for a term of enrollment is expected to be engaged in academic activity for the duration of that academic term. 

The university is required to complete a return of funds calculation for students who received federal student loans and do not complete every day in the academic term (i.e. withdrawal, emergency leave of absence, dissertation submission, etc.). The university will determine the loan amount, if any, that must be returned to the lender in accordance with federal regulations based on the amount of funds received by the university and the number of days the student attended. If a return of federal loan funds is required, the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan funds must be returned first, then the Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan funds.

A return of funds may also be required for other types of financial aid depending on the requirements of the scholarship provider, lender, or other entity providing the funding, and the university will determine what, if any, funds must be returned to comply with those requirements.

The student will be responsible for paying the outstanding balance to the university if the amount that must be returned to the lender exceeds the student’s tuition refund.

Policy Revised 01/01/2016

Tuition Delinquency

All Programs

Approximately one month prior to the tuition due date, and in order to provide adequate time for payment to reach us on schedule, students are notified via email of the availability of their statements on WebAdvisor. For those who have not opted out, hard copy statements are also postal mailed. If payment is to be delayed for any reason, please contact Student Accounts.

Please note that disbursement of student loan funds or employer reimbursements may not coincide with billings from Fielding. Since payment of tuition is the student’s responsibility, students must plan accordingly and arrange to pay tuition by the due date. If payment is not received on time, students will be notified of the delinquency and penalties may apply.

Fielding will assist students who are seeking student loans or other help with tuition payments in any way that we can. For instance, in addition to government loan programs, there are tuition loan programs from private lending sources that we can bring to your attention. We can also provide information to lenders on your current status at Fielding in support of loan applications. Please contact Fielding’s Financial Aid Office if you need information.

Non-payment Penalties for Masters and Graduate Certificate Programs

Payments made after the due date are subject to a late payment charge, see the Finance Fee Schedule  for charge amount.

Payment in full, including late charge and any charges from a previous term, is required to complete registration. Partial payments could result in a late charge.

Course registrations not paid for in full by the add/drop deadline will automatically be cancelled for non-payment. Any payment or partial payment received after the add/drop deadline will be applied to any outstanding balance and any remaining funds will be returned to the payee.

For information about the add/drop policy, please see the policy link below; for specific deadline dates, please see the Academic Master Calendar.

Non-payment Penalties for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Certificate Programs

A late payment fee will be assessed on payments received on or after the first day of the term.

For those payments not received in full by the due date, finance charges will be assessed on the average daily balance at a rate of .833% per month, or 10% per year. Finance charges are made on the first business day of each month.

Withdrawal for Non-Payment

Students whose payments are not received within 30 days of the due date are subject to withdrawal for nonpayment. Students who are withdrawn for financial reasons may request re-enrollment.

Policy Revised 06/19/2014

Tuition Reduction During Clinical Internships

Clinical PhD Program

Doctoral students in Clinical Psychology who are accepted into, and participate in full-time clinical internship programs as part of their required degree program, will have their tuition reduced by 50% during the internship period of one calendar year. If the internship is half-time, the reduction is available for two calendar years, and is 25%. The reduced tuition is only available for the appropriate calendar year length, regardless of the internship’s true end date.

Clinical PhD students who are advanced to candidacy prior to or while they are on reduced tuition during internship, will receive the cumulative benefit of both the internship and advancement to candidacy discounts.

Furthermore, effective as of August 1, 2015, Clinical PhD students may have their tuition reduced by 95% once they have completed all other academic and clinical requirements for the degree, including having completed the Final Oral Review and proofreading dissertation steps, while they await the start of their internship. This is known as All But Dissertation status, or ABI. If a student receives ABI status prior to the end of a term, the student may receive a tuition refund and/or be required to return some financial aid funds. See Student Account Refund policy. Students who have accepted this ABI discount are not eligible to enroll in additional coursework, as course requirements for the degree and concentration will have already been met. Continuance of this discount status will require approval of the Dean for Student Development for any student who is in this pre-internship discount status for more than 8 months.

Once the internship begins, the ABI discount will end and the above internship and ATC discounts will apply for the duration of the internship.

Respecialization Certificate

Students enrolled in the Respecialization in Clinical Psychology certificate program will have their tuition reduced by 95% once they have completed all academic and clinical requirements for the certificate, excluding the internship. Students who have completed all requirements including the Pre-Internship Evaluation or Internship Qualification Evaluation (per their catalog), but have a need to continue accruing practicum hours prior to internship will be entitled to an 85% reduction. Once the respecialization student begins their full-time or half-time internship, the reduction is reduced to or continues at 85%. The 85% reduction remains in effect for the remainder of their student tenure.

Neuropsychology Certificate

Neuropsychology certificate students who do not complete their clinical portion of the program within two years, and remain enrolled a third or fourth year, will receive an 85% reduction on tuition while they complete their clinical work.

Policy Revised 01/01/2016

Tuition/Fee Changes and Guarantees

All tuition and fees of Fielding Graduate University are subject to change. Tuition, fees and other charges represented are good faith projections for the academic year; they are reviewed annually and are subject to change as deemed necessary by Fielding in order to fulfill its role and mission and to best serve the needs of its students. Tuition is set by the Board of Trustees annually based on input from Fielding’s management, and student and faculty committees during the budget process. Tuition changes take effect September 1 of each academic year. Students are informed of tuition and fee changes in advance.

In the masters programs, students are guaranteed their starting tuition rate for two years (six consecutive terms). When those six terms have elapsed, the masters student will begin to be charged at the current rate of tuition.

In the certificate programs (excluding Respecialization in Clinical Psychology, and postdoctoral Neuropsychology), students are guaranteed their starting tuition rate for one year (three consecutive terms). When those three terms have elapsed, the certificate student will begin to be charged at the current rate of tuition.

The time period guarantee clock begins at the initial term of enrollment in the master or certificate program, regardless of breaks due to leaves of absence or withdrawal periods. The original enrollment date also applies if the student starts at one degree level and switches later to another degree level (e.g., switches from certificate to master).

Policy Revised 08/01/2012