Home > Offices > Student Financial Services > Guide to Fees & Payments

This Guide highlights the practical information Smith students and their families need to know about bills and making payments.

	Student Account Charges			Forms of Payment
	Student Health Plan			Monthly Payment Plan
	Miscellaneous Fees			Parent Loans
	Billing and Payment Dates			Student Work Earnings
	Late Payments			Outside Scholarships
	Credit Balances			Financial Aid
	Billing Procedures			Other Important Contacts
	Address Changes

Student Account Charges for 2008-2009

Undergraduate students are billed half of the annual charges at the beginning of each semester:

Tuition		$35,810
Room & Board		$12,050
Student Activities Fee		$248
Student Health Plan		$2,054
Total per year		$50,162

The student account charges for Ada Comstock Scholars are billed on the same schedule as those of traditional students, but amounts vary with the number of credits taken each semester. Specific details on these fees are available from Student Financial Services.

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Student Health Plan

Commonwealth of Massachusetts law requires that all full-time and part-time students be covered by a health insurance plan. Each Smith student is automatically enrolled and charged half the cost each semester. This fee may be waived if your own or your family’s insurance meets the Massachusetts requirements and you complete the waiver process by the published deadline. A Smith College Student Health Plan e-mailing will be sent in July with information on how to waive or enroll in the insurance. In addition, an Optional Health Services Plan is available to supplement existing private coverage. If you are interested in learning more details now, please check our Web site for a link to the insurance provider, Koster Insurance.

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Miscellaneous Fees

Miscellaneous fees are posted to an account when applicable. These include fees such as the Continuation Fee for students on leave and the Optional Student Health Plan fee. Other fees and fines may be posted to a student’s account by a college department such as a library, Registrar’s Office, the Dean of the College and Public Safety. A complete list of all fees can be found in the Smith College Catalogue.

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Billing and Payment Dates

The fall semester bill is mailed in July and the spring semester bill is mailed in December. Fall semester payments are due by August 10 for residents of the U.S., Canada or Mexico, and September 10 for all others.

Spring semester payments are due by January 10 for residents of the U.S., Canada or Mexico, and February 10 for all others.

Students will receive a bill each month in which there is activity on their account. Payments are due on the 10th of the next month.

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Late Payments

Late fees are assessed at the rate of 1.25% per month on overdue balances. Students with overdue balances cannot register for courses in future semesters, participate in independent study abroad or other off-campus programs, or receive a transcript or diploma.

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Credit Balances

Student Financial Services automatically refunds all credit balances for traditional students at the end of the academic year (late May or early June).  Any credit balance can be requested during the academic year by using a Refund Request Form. Credit balances from parent loans are refunded to the parent borrower.  Parents may authorize the refund to be paid directly to the student by completing the Federal PLUS Loan Authorization Form.

All Ada Comstock Scholars and Graduate students will receive automatic refunds for credit balances over $100.  These refunds will be processed weekly.

Student accounts that have credit balances due to a payment plan will not be issued a refund until the payment plan is completed.

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Billing Procedures

The student account statement is addressed to the student and mailed to her permanent address. A student may request that Student Financial Services send a copy of the statement to her Smith College mailbox and/or a copy to a parent or guardian’s address. You may request a duplicate bill by completing a duplicate billing request form (PDF).

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Address Changes

If you change your permanent address, you should promptly notify the Registrar’s Office to ensure that you receive student account statements, transcripts, housing, and other important information from the college. If you will not be at your permanent address during the summer, you should notify the Registrar’s Office of your temporary summer address so that you will receive all college mailings in a timely manner.

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Forms of Payment

Be sure to include the student’s name and social security number or college ID on all forms of payment and correspondence.

	Checks and Money Orders should be made payable to Smith College in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank and mailed to: Smith College PO Box 414147 Boston, MA 02241-4147 Do not include written correspondence with these payments. Note: Outside Scholarship checks should be sent directly to Smith College, Student Financial Services.
	Correspondence and Express Mail should be mailed to: Smith College Student Financial Services Northampton, MA 01063-0021
	Cash Payments must be made at the Cashier’s Window, College Hall.  The Cashier is open Monday - Friday, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
	Bank Wires from a U.S. bank involve fees that range from $15 to $50 per transfer. Wire transfers from a bank not affiliated with a U.S. bank are subject to a collection fee. The net amount applied to the student’s account will be less than the amount of the wire transfer.   Please include student's full name and college ID or SS#.  IMPORTANT:  Effective immediately, Smith College no longer uses Wacholvia Bank for wire transfer services.  All wire transfers must be sent through Bank of America.  Please contact Student Financial Services for further details.

Smith College does not accept credit card payments.

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Monthly Payment Plan

Smith College participates in the TuitionPay Monthly Plan that allows the student or parent(s) to pay charges on a monthly basis. The Plan is not a loan and no interest is charged. The annual enrollment fee is $50. The enrollment fee includes Tuition Payment Insurance, which covers any remaining balance on your Plan in the event of the death of the payment plan payer.

When you enroll in the TuitionPay Plan, you can elect monthly payments over 10, nine, or eight months, beginning the 1st day of June, July, or August, respectively.  Returning students may elect to re-enroll for a 12 month plan.

Student accounts are credited with half the amount of the Plan at the start of each semester. Please be sure to check your Smith billing statement for additional charges due. Payments made through TuitionPay are forwarded to Smith College and applied to the student’s account. If you need to adjust your Plan amount during the year, contact TuitionPay directly at (800) 635-0120 or for more information visit their Web site. Payment plan adjustments will not be accepted after February 15.

Student accounts that have credit balances due to a payment plan will not be issued a refund until the payment plan is completed.  For further information on our refund policy, please see the Credit Balances section.

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Parent Loans

There are several parent loans available to assist with the payment of education costs. Loans can be certified for the entire cost of education, including tuition, fees, room, board, books, and personal expenses, less any grants, loans and work awards that the student receives. You may use any lender of your choosing.  Further information on the PLUS and MEFA loan programs is available on our financing options page.  The two loans used most often by Smith parents are:

	Federal Parent Loan to Undergraduate Students (PLUS) The PLUS loan is available to credit-worthy parents of dependent undergraduate students. There is a guarantee and origination fee of 3-4% which will be deducted from the total loan amount prior to disbursement. The interest is fixed at 8.5% and the repayment period is ten years. If the loan is processed through one of Smith’s preferred lenders, the borrower has the option of interest only payments while the student is enrolled. Otherwise, principal and interest payments may begin after the second disbursement has been made.
	Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) Please visit the MEFA website for additional information.

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Student Work Earnings

A student who works on campus will either receive a check every two weeks for hours worked, or may ask to have all or part of her earnings applied to her student account. After the student completes a Student Payroll Deduction Authorization (available from Student Financial Services), the earnings will be automatically credited to the student’s account as earned.

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Outside Scholarships

It is required that students report all outside scholarships to Student Financial Services.  To view the college's policy on outside aid and to download an Outside Award Response Form, please go to our Outside Aid web page.  Scholarships received from sources outside the college appear as actual credits when funds have been received and the student has satisfied all requirements. Prior to satisfaction of requirements and/or receipt of funds, outside scholarships appear as pending credits. If an outside agency requires direct billing, please let us know.

Please submit all outside aid payments directly to Smith College, Student Financial Services.

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Financial Aid

One-half of the student’s accepted grant and/or loan is posted to the student account at the beginning of each semester. The funds show as credits if all requirements have been completed or as pending credits if the student has not completed all of the requirements for a particular fund (signing a promissory note, submitting a required form, completing entrance counseling online, etc.), or if the funds have not arrived from the source (such as scholarships or state grants.)

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Other Important Contacts

Offices other than Student Financial Services also generate charges on student accounts. You should contact the appropriate office with inquiries about those charges. Refer to the following list:

Fee		Office
Course fees		Academic Department (phone varies by dept.)
Library fines		Neilson Library, (413) 585-4162
Parking fines		Public Safety, (413) 585-2490
Telephone bills		Information Technology Services, (413) 585-2082
Faculty eval. fines		Dean of the College, (413) 585-4900
Infirmary charges		Student Health Service, (413) 585-2800
Key fines		Student Affairs, (413) 585-4940
Bed removal fee		Physical Plant, (413) 585-2400

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