Expenses

Tuition, Fees, and Room and Board 2024-2025

The tuition rate for full time students (12-18 hours per semester) for 2024-2025 is $67,874 per year. The rates in this Catalog reflect the prevailing price at the time of this publication. They will be updated for subsequent years when the information is made available.

Fees

Enrollment Deposit $300

Student Activity Fee $230

Newly admitted students pay a one time, non-refundable enrollment deposit of $300 to reserve a place in the entering class. The amount deposited by the student is applied to first semester tuition charges.

Health Insurance $3,329 (estimate)

Tuition

Regular

Full-time, per academic year (12-18 hours per semester) $67,874

Part-time, less than 12 hours per semester (per semester hour) $2,121

Hours in excess of 18 (per semester hour to a maximum of 20)  $4,242

Charges for hours in excess of 18 per semester are waived if students enroll for 12-14 hours in the other semester of the same academic year. They are not waived if students enroll in fewer than 12 hours or withdraw from a fourth course. This waiver does not apply in an academic year where one semester is spent on study away.

Other

Macalester Graduate, maximum of 5 hours per semester $2,121

(Graduates taking more than the stated credit limit are billed the regular part-time or full-time tuition rate for all credits.)

Audit only, non-Macalester graduate, (per credit) $530

Summer Independent Study (Summer 2023, per semester hour) $2,021

January Break Independent Study (January 2023, 2 semester hrs. max) No Charge

Music Lessons

Please refer to the Music Department website for updated private studio instruction fees.

Study Away

Semester and Academic Year Programs: Macalester College offers students a carefully selected variety of overseas and domestic study away programs of relevance to the Macalester liberal arts curriculum. The cost of participating in an off-campus program is equal to Macalester tuition plus airfare and on-site room and board charges. For programs whose charges exceed Macalester’s, the student and his or her family will be responsible for the additional costs. The College extends financial aid allowances to all eligible students to support the cost of approved study away. Withdrawal from a study away program follows the same policy as an on-campus program based on the program’s first day of the semester.

January or summer program: actual program costs.

Further information on recommended programs, costs, and financial aid for off-campus study will be made available during the study away advising process or may be viewed on the College’s Center for Study Away web site.

Room and Board

Per academic year (room-$8,304) (board-$7,456)  $15,760

Language Houses (room only)   $8,559

Apartment (room only)   $9,448

Commuter Meal Plan (per semester)   $975

Residence Halls

First-year and sophomore students are required to live in College housing. Students will be contacted over the summer to complete their online housing preferences form. First-year students may apply to the Academic Programs Office for a residential course for their first semester. First-year course assignments have priority in the room assignment process.

Refund Policies

Official Withdrawal From Macalester College

• The enrollment deposit made by an applicant is non-refundable. Therefore, if new students have difficulty with deposit deadlines they should contact the Admissions Office. The enrollment deposit is applied as a credit toward first semester charges.
• No refunds are granted without first receiving official permission or withdrawal from the College from the Office of Student Affairs.
• Students will receive a prorated tuition refund based on the days of the semester for which they were enrolled with a 0% refund once a student has attended 60% of the semester.
• No tuition is refunded or credited to a student that withdraws from a course and has a grade of “W”.
• Tuition refunds for both on-campus and study away programs are based on the program’s first day of the semester.
• Room and board refunds for both new and returning students are calculated on a daily basis by the number of days in the dormitory as of the checkout date. One week is added to the official date of room vacancy when computing the pro-rated refund. Students who move out of College residences but remain enrolled in the College are not eligible for room and board refunds.
• Students receiving financial aid who receive tuition and/or room and board refunds will receive a similar reduction in their total financial aid package. Refund calculations for the Title IV aid recipients are regulated by federal requirements and align with the institutional policy. (See the Financial Aid section of the Student Handbook for additional refund policy information.)
• The student activity fee is non-refundable.
• Health Insurance is non-refundable.
• Students leaving the College any time after registration without being granted official permission, or by reason of being suspended or dropped, will not be eligible for any refund under this policy.

Credit Balance Refunds

Requesting refunds for credit balances on student billing accounts will be processed as follows:

• Credit balance refund requests must be received in the Student Accounts Office on or before Monday at 4pm to be disbursed on the Friday of that week.  Holiday schedules may apply and change availability of disbursements. 
• Credit balance refund requests may be emailed to the Student Accounts Office or the student may stop by the Student Accounts Office to fill out the form.    Email:  studentaccts@macalester.edu
• Credit balance refunds due to financial aid/payments/credits will not be processed before the first day of class of the semester for which they are intended.
• Credit balance refunds will not be disbursed until the credit balance is on the student billing account and will not be processed for more than the amount of the credit balance. 
• Credit balance refunds will be disbursed to the student. The only exception is when a credit balance is due to a Federal PLUS Loan-in this case only, the credit balance refund may go to the parent.
• Credit balance refunds (direct deposit or check) may be requested up to three times (maximum) per semester.  
• Cash disbursements of $50 or less due to credit balances will only be granted once per month. 
• Newly disbursed financial aid or credit balance due to other account changes may be refunded upon request and will follow the normal refund process and policies. 
• Credit balances due to over-payments or payments made when a balance was not owing will remain on the student billing account for future charges.  Macalester College will not act as an intermediary for transference of funds through the credit balance refund process. 
• Credit balances due to over-payments or payments made by wire transfer will remain on the student billing account for future charges or returned to the sending institution.  Macalester College will not act as an intermediary for transference of funds through the credit balance refund process.
• If a student reduces their credit load and the change in enrollment status creates a credit balance, the credit balance will remain on the student billing account for future charges.  Macalester College will not act as an intermediary for transference of funds through the credit balance refund process. 
• If a student or other person on behalf of the student is enrolled in the Nelnet Campus Commerce (Nelnet) payment plan, no refund will be issued until the plan has been paid in full.
• If a student reduces their credit load and the change in enrollment status creates a credit balance, the student may be required to apply the credit balance to their institutional loan disbursements. 
• If a student withdraws from the College, makes changes to their registration and/or room and board, or incurs tax assessments after receiving a refund, the student may be required to repay all or a portion of the refund amount back to the College. 
• If a student withdraws from the College and a credit balance results because of the change, the College will post the available credit balance as repayment of institutional loans taken during that semester prior to issuing any refund.
• Credit balance refunds are processed 3-4 weeks following a status change due to non-registration.  This would include graduation, withdrawal, leave of absence, etc. 

Payment of Student Accounts

Students are billed for the Fall Semester in mid-July, with charges due and payable on or before August 15. Students are billed for the Spring Semester in mid-December, with charges due and payable on or before January 15. Each semester’s bill will include the charges for that semester’s tuition, room and board (if applicable) and any appropriate fees. Charges must be paid by the due date of August 15 for Fall Semester or January 15 for Spring Semester.

The value of any work-study generated financial aid is anticipated money and will only be available as it is earned. Work-study earnings are paid directly to the students on a bi-weekly basis. Students wanting to apply work-study earnings to their bills must have a Student Employment Check Authorization (SECA) form on file with the Student Accounts Office. Work study authorized to apply to a bill but not earned by the end of the semester must be paid on or before the semester ends. Finance charges will accrue on accounts that have an outstanding balance. Transcript, diploma and other holds may apply in the case of an outstanding balance.

Monthly e-Bill statements are made available on the student portal, 1600grand, on the first business day following the 15^th. The statements reflect charges and credits incurred during the billing period. In subsequent billing periods, if full payment is not made by the due date, a finance charge of .667% per month (annual percentage rate of 8%) is assessed. New charges are due on the 15^th of the following month. If charges are added prior to or during the Add/Drop/Validation period, they are due and payable immediately to validate enrollment as a student. 

Students are responsible for reading and understanding all academic and financial policies as published in the Macalester College Catalog, including the refund policies for tuition, fees, room, and board. Students are responsible for the communication of billing information to all parties involved. Students may give permission to others to view their e-Bill statements, billing account activity, and make on-line payments by setting them up as an Authorized User. If the student believes that any information on their statement is incorrect, they must notify the Student Accounts Office in writing within 30 days of the statement date detailing the information believed to be incorrect. If the information is not disputed in writing within 30 days of the statement date, Macalester College will assume the information is correct.

Students and/or parents wishing to borrow additional money to pay towards their semester bill need to contact the Financial Aid Office to determine what options might be available to them. Nelnet Campus Commerce (Nelnet) (1-800-609-8056) offers an independent monthly payment plan with insurance and extended payment features. Information and application materials are available from the Student Accounts Office or by going to the Nelnet web site at mycollegepaymentplan.com/macalester-college

Payment Options

The Student Accounts Office will accept the following forms of payment:

• Cash - only accepted in person in the Student Accounts Office
• Personal check, cashier’s check, or money order:
  • Made payable to Macalester College
  • Must be in US dollars (foreign currency not accepted)
  • Checks from outside the USA must be drawn on a USA bank in US dollars
  • Mailed or personally delivered to the Student Accounts Office
• Online payment options:
  • Checking/savings (no fee) for students and authorized users
  • Online credit card (2.95% convenience fee or minimum of $3) for students and authorized users. We accept MasterCard, American Express, Visa and Discover. Convenience fee paid by the card holder.
  • ACH (bank to bank wire). To make a wire transfer payment, please contact the Student Accounts Office by either mailing or emailing your request to receive the wire transfer information. You may also stop in the Student Accounts Office to request the information in person. When making a wire transfer, please include the student’s Macalester ID number and name in the reference section. Any fees for wire transfers may result in a reduction of the amount received in Macalester’s bank account and then credited to the student’s billing account.
  • 529 Digital Payment Option:   Many 529 College Savings plans now have a digital distribution option, which saves time and improves transparency with real-time payment tracking. When requesting a withdrawal from your plan, check with your plan administrator to see if a digital distribution option is available versus a paper check option.
  • Flywire International Student Payment:  Macalester has partnered with with Flywire to accept payments from international students worldwide. Please contact the Student Accounts Office for more information on this payment option.
  • Wire Transfer Payment:  To make a wire transfer payment, please contact the Student Accounts Office for details about making this type of payment. When making a wire transfer, it is very important to include the student’s Macalester ID number and name in the reference section so that it is applied to the correct student’s account.

Past Due Balances

Failure to keep a student billing account current, including the monthly payment plan account (Nelnet), may result in one or more of the following: validation hold, transcript hold, diploma hold, inability to register for classes including adding/dropping, and assessment of an 8% per annum finance charge.

Other Policies:

1. RETURNED PAYMENT CHARGES: A non-refundable twenty dollar ($20.00) fee is assessed to a student’s billing account each time a payment (paper or electronic) is returned by the bank. After three returned payments, the student will be required to make further payments with cash, cashier’s check, money order, credit card, or wire transfer.
2. GRADUATION: Outstanding balances must be paid in full on or before April 15th.  Graduates who have a balance due or have other financial obligations to the college may participate in commencement ceremonies but will not be allowed to receive their diploma or copies of transcripts until all of their financial obligations to the college have been met. All students with Perkins, Institutional, MCISL loans must complete an exit interview before graduation or they will not be allowed to receive their diploma.
3. TRANSCRIPTS: Transcript requests should be directed to the Registrar’s Office. Requests may be denied if a student has unpaid or unmet financial obligations to the College and are not in accordance with federal and state rules and regulations. This may include a balance owing on their student billing account.  It may also include not being current or having unmet obligations relating to the Nelnet payment plan and/or their Perkins, Institutional or Gate loans.
4. FINES AND OTHER CHARGES: Fines are due and payable as soon as they are posted to a student’s billing account.
5. Dormitory Rooms, Commuter Meal Plans, and Plans A, B,  or C, added after the semester payment due date (August 15 or January 15) must be paid for at the time of purchase.