Tuition & Fees

Schedule of Semester Fees and Refund Policy

Tuition (2018-2019 academic year)

• The tuition rate for CAGS, graduate certificates, certification and non-degree course work is $660 per credit hour.
• Tuition is reviewed and subject to adjustment each year.
• Please note that books and fees are not included in the tuition cost.

Additional Costs & Fees

Technology Fee: $30 per course

Drop/Add Fee: $25 (Students may drop a course online through the day before a course begins without a fee)

Transcript Fee: Varies from no cost to $7; See Registrar's Office website for more information

Return ACH or check Fee: $50 non-refundable fee for non-sufficient funds or incorrect bank account or routing numbers

Health Insurance (per year): $2302 for 2018-2019 Dietetic Internship, Higher Education Graduate Assistants, and Occupational Therapy graduate students only (must be waived yearly if insured)

Application for Admission Fee: $30

Pre-registration Deposit: $200 non-refundable for all new, first-time graduate students or re-enrolled graduate students. The deposit will be applied as a prepayment to the first semester’s tuition and fees. Payment can be made online via credit card or a check payable to “Messiah College” can be mailed to Messiah College Graduate Programs, Suite 3060, One College Avenue, Mechanicsburg PA 17055.

Program-specific fees

Additional costs may be incurred in the following programs related to materials, technology and clearances:

Dietetic internship program - click here.

Doctor of Nursing Practice program:
• A $200 course fee is applied to NURS 601 and NURS 602
• A $100 course fee is applied to NURS 722 

M.A. in counseling program - click here.

Master of education program – possible costs for background checks and clearances.

M.M. in conducting program:
• A $150 course fee is applied for each of the following  symposium summer intensive courses: MUSI 501, MUSI 502, MUSI 503, MUSI 601, MUSI 602, and MUSI 603.
• A $50 course fee is applied for each of the following summer intensive courses: MUSI 511, MUSI 512, MUSI 513, MUSI 521, MUED 501, MUED 502, MUED 503, MUED 504 and MUED 505.

Occupational therapy program - click here.

Pre-registration deposit

A non-refundable pre-registration deposit of $200 is required for all new, first-time graduate students or re-enrolled graduate students. The deposit, which confirms acceptance into the program, will be applied as a prepayment of the first semester’s tuition and fees.

Once accepted in the program, students will be able to submit their deposit online via credit card or mail the payment by check. Checks should be made payable to “Messiah College” and mailed to:

Messiah College School of Graduate Studies

Suite 3060

One College Avenue, Mechanicsburg PA 17055

Electronic Billing (eBill)

Each semester, students will receive an email notification via their Messiah College email account when invoices are available to view. The invoice is a snapshot of your account taken on the billing date. Invoices show anticipated financial aid subtracted from the balance due. Bi-weekly eBill notifications will be sent until the account shows a zero balance.

McSquare>Graduate Student>Student Quicklinks>CashNet eBill. On the right side is a list of invoices sorted by most recent to oldest.  Click “View” to open and see detail.

Invoices include itemized charges for the entire semester. However, when registered for early and late term courses, the balance can be broken down into two payments. Charges must be paid in full prior to the start of each term.  Students will not be permitted to register for subsequent courses, and transcripts will not be released until all financial obligations have been fulfilled.  

Initial semester eBill notifications are typically emailed to students the following months:

• Fall semester - July
• Spring semester - November
• Summer semester – May

You can view account transactions at any time without waiting for the invoice. Please note that the live account will not show financial aid until it disburses into your account.

MCSquare>Graduate Student>Student Quicklinks>Self Service Main Menu>Student Services>Student Account>Account Detail Listing

Forms of Payment Accepted

Pay online from MCSquare>Graduate Student>Student Quicklinks>CashNet eBill>select Click here to make a payment.

• Echeck/ACH:  Enter bank routing and account numbers to deduct the payment from a bank account (no fee and very secure).
• Credit/Debit Card:  Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover (2.75% processing charge is added).

Alternatively, a check can be mailed, or an in person payment made at the Falcon Exchange located on the first floor of Eisenhower Campus Center. Checks can be made payable to Messiah College and mailed to Messiah College, Suite 4516, One College Avenue, Mechanicsburg, PA  17055 (please write your ID# in the memo line).

Additional Payment Options

Loans

Two federal loans are available to graduate students. Private loans are also available. More information can be found here.

Deferred Payment Plan

Graduate students who are eligible for employer reimbursement can defer payment of their reimbursed charges until the end of the semester. The Deferred Tuition Payment Agreement must be completed by the student and employer. This is an agreement between the student and Messiah College. Federal regulations require students to notify the college of any reimbursement they will receive. These funds are considered when calculating financial aid eligibility for federal loans.

Monthly Payment Option

Messiah College offers a monthly payment plan through a third party administrator, Tuition Management Systems (TMS). This plan allows for three equal payments for a single semester balance. Payments are made directly to TMS by the 20th of each month as follows:

• Fall semester - Three month payment plan (August, September, October).  Deadline to sign up is September 20.
• Spring semester - Three month payment plan (December, January, February).  Deadline to sign up is January 20.
• Summer semester - Three month payment plan (April, May, June).  Deadline to sign up is May 20.

Graduate students often must enroll in TMS before their semester bill is released.  Please visit the Cost and Tuition webpage or call Student Financial Services at 717-691-6004 for assistance in determining the amount of your charges. There is a $35 enrollment fee each semester a student enters a contract with TMS.  To enroll, please call a TMS Representative at 1-800-722-4867 or log onto their web site at messiahgrad.afford.com.

TMS forwards payments to Messiah College on a weekly basis, at which point the funds are applied directly to your student account.  Students can contact TMS and adjust the contract amount whenever necessary, i.e. if the contract estimate does not match the actual invoice charges.

Registration and Transcript Hold Policy

• Diplomas and transcripts will not be released for students who have balances of $25.00 or more.
• Registration is blocked for students who have balances of $100.00 or more.

Graduate Tuition and Fee Refund Policy/Return of Title IV Funds

Any student who withdraws from a course will be assessed a drop registration fee by the Registrar’s Office. Tuition refunds will be calculated in accordance with Messiah College’s Graduate Refund Policy and based upon the number of calendar days a student has completed upon the official date of withdrawal. There will be no tuition refunds after the student has completed at least one third of the course.

Dropping or withdrawing from a course may reduce a student’s financial aid eligibility.  Students should contact Student Financial Services to find out if their aid will be affected by their decision.

Messiah College Graduate Refund Policy

Refunds for students who withdraw voluntarily or involuntarily are determined, with one exception*, according to the percentage of the semester/part of term completed when a student withdraws from a course. The following chart details the percentages of completion used to calculate the percentage of refunds and offers examples of the most common graduate course delivery models. If the delivery model of a graduate course is not listed below, the refund for such a course will be calculated using the percentage of the semester/part of term that is completed when a student notifies the registrar’s office of the withdrawal.

*If a student withdraws from an intensive course by 11:59PM of the first day of residency, the student will be entitled to a 100% refund (provided the student’s other financial obligations to Messiah College have been met in full).  If a student withdraws from an intensive course at any time after 11:59PM of the first day, the student will not be entitled to receive a refund.

Refund Examples

The procedure for a refund is as follows:

1. A drop occurs prior to the start of the term in which a student is registered for the class and may be completed by the student in self-service Banner unless it is the student’s only class in that semester.  Email gradregistrar@messiah.edu to drop your only class. A withdrawal occurs once the term begins. All requests for withdrawals must be emailed to the registrar’s office, gradregistrar@messiah.edu . The date of the email determines the refund date and amount. Notifying an instructor does not constitute an official request to drop or withdraw from a course.
2. For courses with a residency component, a full refund will be granted only if the withdrawal is made prior to 11:59PM, EST on the first day of residency.  After the first day of residency, the tuition is non-refundable except for the reasons of 1) illness documented by a physician or 2) employment reasons as documented by an employer, or 3) death of an immediate family member.
3. Lab, music, private music lesson, and all other course-related fees, as applicable, will not be refunded after completion of 7% of the part-of-term. 
4. Refunds and adjusted bills will be sent to the student’s home address following withdrawal from the college.  Updated billing statements will be available online for students dropping or withdrawing from courses only.  Students will be notified if their change in enrollment has required an adjustment to their financial aid award.
5. In accordance with federal regulations, when federal financial aid refunds are involved, the amounts are allocated in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, other Title IV aid programs.
6. The term “Title IV Funds” refers to the Federal financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1956 (as amended) and includes the following programs: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, subsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS loans, Federal Pell Grants, Federal SEOG.
7. Institutional and student responsibilities in regard to the return of the Title IV funds:
   1. Messiah College’s responsibilities
      1. Providing each student with the information given in the policy
      2. Identifying students who are affected by the policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students 
      3. Returning any Title IV funds that are due to the Title IV programs
   2. Student’s responsibilities
      1. Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were disbursed directly to the student and which the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return of the Title IV Funds calculation
8. Other financial aid will be refunded in proportion to and along the same schedule as tuition.
9. Messiah College is not required to pay a credit balance that is less than $1.00.  Credit balances greater than or equal to $1.00 are automatically refunded to the student upon the student’s graduation or separation from the College.  

This policy has been instituted to establish an official withdrawal date, provide a fair and equitable policy for determining refunds for withdrawing students, provide student counseling regarding withdrawal implications, and provide a waiting period at no expense to the student.

Maryland Resident Refund Policy

Maryland residents have a unique refund policy. If a Maryland resident withdraws or is terminated after completing only a portion of a course or term the following refund applies and supersedes the standard Messiah College Graduate refund policy.

All refunds to Maryland residents shall be based on the date of withdrawal or termination and will be paid within 60 days from the date of withdrawal or termination.

Return of Federal Student Loans

The return of Federal Student loans has a different rate than the College’s refund policy:

Return of Title IV Funds applies to a Federal loan recipient who withdraws from or leaves school before completing the payment period or period of enrollment.

• At Messiah College the period of enrollment is a semester.
• Messiah College will determine the percentage of aid earned by the student by calculating the percentage of the period that the student completed.
  • For credit-hour programs that means the Days Attended/ Days in period = percentage completed.
• Any unearned funds must be returned. The percentage of loan that a student is allowed to keep may differ from the percentage of tuition remaining on their account per the College’s refund policy. This would result in a balance due to the College.

  However, since some graduate programs at Messiah College have two parts of term in each semester, there may be situations where a student withdraws from the early part of the term but still plans to attend classes in the latter part of the term.

• In this case the student is not considered to have withdrawn from the program if the student gives the institution written confirmation that he or she will attend a class in the part of term that begins later in the same payment period or period of enrollment. The situation will change if the student does not attend the class in the later session.
• This written confirmation must occur at the time that would have been considered a withdrawal.

  Therefore, if a graduate student withdraws from a class or classes part of the way through the early part of the term and gives Messiah College written confirmation (at the time of withdrawal) that they are enrolled in and planning to attend a class or classes in the latter part of the same semester, there is no need to return Federal Direct Loans. However, if the student does not follow-through and attend the later session, the situation would be considered a withdrawal.