Concordia University Chicago accepts all fees with the understanding that the student, by being assessed such fees, agrees to abide by all the regulations of the University, whether printed in this catalog or not, and by any appropriate decisions of the administration or faculty regarding the student’s status in the University. Although CUC exercises reasonable precaution, it can assume no responsibility for accidents to students that may occur incident to, by attendance at, or through participation in classroom or laboratory work, intramural activities, or other University programs and activities. Also, the University does not accept responsibility for any personal property lost, stolen, damaged or misplaced.
During the period of this catalog issue, the University will make every effort to maintain the fees listed. However, rising costs may necessitate an interim increase in fees.
Students shall pay all assessments by the published deadlines for payment, approximately 30 days before the beginning of each semester. Students wishing to register after the published deadline date for a given semester, will be required to make payments before registration is permitted. Only federal or state financial aid for the term that is confirmed by the Office of Student Financial Planning may be excluded from these requirements. Sources of funds not eligible for deferred tuition payments include income through student employment and tuition reimbursement by an employer or other sources.
A fee of $25 will be assessed to the student’s tuition account for any check returned unpaid. If a second check is returned unpaid, an additional $35 fee will be assessed and no further checks will be accepted on the student’s tuition account. Payment for any returned check must be made by certified funds (cash, cashier’s check or money order). A fee of $20 will be assessed to the student’s tuition account for any online check payment that is returned unpaid.
Please note: When using the online payment method through our third party servicer, Sallie Mae, the payment information submitted, such as your bank account or credit card information and the student H-number, must be accurate. If there is an error in the information that is submitted, the payment may be returned unpaid by your financial institution. There is a fee of $25 that is posted to the students account as the University is charged for returned payments by Sallie Mae. This is a non-negotiable fee and the student will be responsible. The University does not hold any liability to any incorrect information submitted by another party.
Payments may be made in person, over the telephone, online or through a monthly tuition payment plan. Payments made in person may be made via cash, money order, personal check or credit card (at no additional charge). Payments made over the telephone must be made via credit card. All such credit card payments taken over the telephone shall be subject to a 2.75 percent convenience fee to be added to the total amount of the payment.(Cards accepted are MasterCard®, American Express® and Discover®)
Payments mailed directly to the University must be in the form of cash, personal check or money order. Payments made online must be in the form of either a bank account (ACH) transaction or credit card. Online payments shall be made at www.CUChicago.edu/creditcardpayments. Online credit card payments are subject to a 2.75 percent convenience fee. Online payments made via ACH shall not incur any additional charges.
Students also may sign up for a monthly tuition payment plan through Sallie Mae, a third-party provider. To sign up for this service or for more information, please go to www.tuitionpay.salliemae.com. This link will take you directly to the TuitionPay Website. All fees, whether paid by a person or an organization, shall be paid in United States dollars. MasterCard®, American Express® and Discover® will be accepted for any payments, whether in person, over the telephone, online or through the monthly tuition payment plan.
Students with outstanding balances will be placed on “hold” status and will be prohibited from registering for courses until that “hold” status is released. Students with “hold” status due to outstanding balances also will not be allowed to participate in commencement ceremonies, and are not entitled to receive a diploma, transcripts, credentials or other possible University-provided verifications until the balance is paid in full with guaranteed funds and verified by the Director of Student Business Services. Any account with an outstanding balance will incur a 1.5 percent or minimum of $25 service charge each month on the account until paid in full.
Email is the University’s primary source of communication. A statement of account will be emailed to the student’s Concordia email address each month after the start of the semester if the tuition account has a verified outstanding balance.
If an outstanding balance remains on the student account after a term has ended, the student is no longer an enrolled student. At this point, the student is considered to be a collection account. Any efforts to collect the unpaid balance to Concordia University Chicago that are made by a third-party source are the student’s responsibility. Such costs include, but are not limited to, fees from the outside collection agencies, attorney fees, court costs, service charges, etc. This policy is governed by the laws of Illinois. Please note: To appeal charges for tuition or a grade, the student has one semester to write a letter of appeal to the Dean of Students. If the appeal is not made within that time period, your appeal will not be reviewed.
Tuition Deposit: $100
The tuition deposit is required of all new degree-seeking students within 60 days of their admittance to the University. The deposit is not refundable after May 1 for new students entering for the fall semester and after December 15 for new students entering for the spring semester. This deposit is not required of returning students.
Late Registration Fee for Returning Students: $175
This non-refundable fee is assessed of all returning students registering after June 1.
New Student Matriculation & Records Fee: $180
All new students entering the institution are assessed this one-time fee to support the maintenance and processing of student records, transcript requests, and verification of enrollment requests.
All undergraduate students enrolled in 12-18.5 credit hours each semester shall be charged a flat rate of tuition in the amount of $12,971 per semester or $25,942 annually. Undergraduate students enrolled in less than 12 credit hours per semester will be charged $810 per credit hour taken. Undergraduate students enrolled in more than 18.5 credit hours per semester will be charged an additional $810 per credit hour taken—this charge is in addition to the flat rate charge.
Students enrolled in the Adult Degree Completion Program shall be charged at the rate of $TBD per credit hour.
Additional charges may be assessed for all students enrolled in courses requiring field trips. Such field trips must be indicated in the course descriptions. Students enrolled in certain courses also may be assessed additional laboratory fees.
Each student is mailed a hard copy of their semester bill to their permanent home address that is on file in our system. To provide ample time to financially prepare for the semester, bills are mailed out 90 days prior to the semester, and again at 60 days prior to the semester and are due 30 days prior to the start of the semester. Payments must be made with the University’s Student Business Services Office by the published deadlines for payments. Failure to meet published deadlines will result in non-registration for that term/session by the University.
All courses taken by correspondence are billed per three credit hours at the rate of $810 in total. An
additional fee will be assessed for every six-month extension period per course. (fee for extension to be determined).
Students wishing to take course credit by examination will be billed $125 for each exam taken and $125 to post each grade to the student’s transcript.
Students wishing to use credit acquired through prior learning experiences will be obligated to pay a $235 fee per topic.
Registration for course audits should occur at or before final registration. Students may change from credit to audit, or audit to credit, up to and including the twentieth day of classes in a semester by contacting the Office of the Registrar. Exams and papers assigned to students taking the course for credit do not apply to audit students; all other expectations are the same. A grade of audit (AU) will be assigned at the completion of the course. Fees for audited courses are as follows:
• Courses taken as audit are inclusive of current tuition structure. Fees are the same for credit or audit.
• Students taking courses for audit that have lab fees associated with that course will be responsible for those lab fee charges.
• Students taking more than one applied music course for credit or audit in a given semester will pay an applied music fee for each course taken.
• Graduate students are not allowed to take regular undergraduate courses as audit, with the exception of music courses.
Applied music lessons include piano, organ, harpsichord, voice, band instruments, orchestral instruments, composition and/or improvisation. The University does not necessarily provide the use of an instrument for such lessons; however, a limited number of instruments are available.
The applied music tuition is charged to any student taking music lessons (MUSA courses) for either credit or audit. These courses are available for one-half credit or for one full credit. Thirteen half-hour lessons per semester equal one half-hour of credit. To receive one full credit, students need to register for 13 45-minute lessons. Students wishing to audit music lessons can register for one-half credit only, and must indicate their desire to audit at the time of registration. Lessons in composition are available only for credit.
Students pay the tuition rate for either one hour, or one half-hour of credit, plus an applied music fee.
Any student who takes lessons for audit (no credit) pays the current tuition rate, plus the full-applied music fee. The tuition refund policy also applies to applied music tuition.
Students are responsible to make contact with their applied music teacher within the first week of the semester.
The applied music fee is charged to any student taking lessons as above. Fees for one-half hour and one hour are as follows: $165 per .5 credit; $330 per one credit.
Courses can be added to a student schedule any time during the first five days of the semester. Time limits for the addition of courses are reduced proportionately in any semester where the structure of the class is changed such as summer session or eight-week classes.
A credit balance may be created if your financial aid exceeds your tuition charges. If a credit balance is reflected on the students tuition account a refund may be requested.
In order to receive a refund, students must fill out a Student Refund Form from the Business Services Office, or may obtain the form by logging onto Concordia Connect; click on the "Resource" tab and in the "Forms Repository," type "Student Refund Form," which will appear as a Word document. Complete this form in its entirety and you must sign it for it to be processed.
The deadline for refunds to be processed is on Friday to receive it by the following Friday as long as the funds are available. Forms received over the weekend or the following week will not be processed until the following Friday. In order to receive your refund, you must submit your refund amount and the funds must actually be posted to your account creating a credit balance, which you can view on ConcordiaConnect. Any credit balance may be given in person by the Business Services Office, not over the phone or through an email. Also, no other office may provide your credit balance amount to you for your protection and FERPA regulations of the University. It is the student’s responsibility to provide accurate information on the refund form. The University will not be held responsible for any inaccuracy on the refund form submitted. This includes the amount to be refunded, bank account information if direct deposited, and signature as the refund will not be procssed for that week.
Our department will contact you if a signature is missing or if the amount is incorrect; however this will delay your refund disbursement as it is at no fault of the University. If your form is not submitted according to the policy and procedure above, there will not be any exceptions to expedite the refund.** If the student account has a credit balance due to a parent plus loan, the parent must complete the refund form or we must have authorization from the parent to release the refund to the student.
1. Provide your refund form in person to the Business Service Office located in Addison Hall Room 156.
2. Fax your form to 708-488-4293. The date of the fax will be the date of receipt used for processing.
3. Mail your refund form to Concordia University Chicago, 7400 Augusta St., River Forest IL 60305-1499 Attn: Business Services. The date of the postmark will be the date of receipt used for processing.
4. Email your refund form from your Concordia email to student.accounts@cuchicago.edu.
The tuition refund policy is as follows:
• All fees are refundable at 100% when the course is dropped within the 100% refund period.
• If course is dropped during any other refund period, 0% of all fees are refundable.
100% REFUND through end of the 1st week of class
75% REFUND through the 2nd week of class
50% REFUND through the 3rd week of class
25% REFUND through the 4th week of class
0% REFUND after the 4th week of class
100% REFUND through the end of the 1st week of class
50% REFUND through the end of the 2nd week of class
0% REFUND after the 2nd week of the class
Checks for refunded tuition must be requested via a Student Refund Form and will be issued after the 0% refund date. Please be advised that this policy may be altered at any time. This policy, with exact dates of refund for the semesters in progress, can be found at www.CUChicago.edu and will be posted in the Student Business Services Office, Student Financial Planning, the Graduate Office, the Registrar’s Office and the Academic Advising Office.
NOTE: Failure to attend class does not constitute an automatic withdrawal from the class!
Students MUST drop courses through the Academic Advising Office (undergraduate students) or the Registrar’s Office (graduate students) before any refund will be issued. Failure to drop classes will result in no refund and a grade of “F” on the student’s transcript.
As indicated in the Outstanding Balance section of this chapter, a student has one semester to appeal the tuition cost and grade for a course to the Dean of Students. A form for the appeal can be found on ConcordiaConnect and click on the "Student Services" tab. Failure to follow the procedure of an appeal will result in your appeal not be reviewed and you will be assessed the charges accordingly.
Outstanding balances are due and payable in full upon withdrawing from Concordia University Chicago. (Note: See Collection Policy.)
Campus Housing
A full refund will be awarded on housing if withdrawn within the first week of the semester. A 50% refund will be given if withdrawn between the second and eighth week of the semester. After eight weeks, NO housing refunds will be given. Any semester(s) not attended will be refunded in full.
Rates are normal room occupancy of two and three persons. Single room accommodations, if space is available, may be requested for an additional fee. Single rooms are available on a limited basis. All single room requests must be approved by the Director of Student Housing.
Room reservation deposit:
Returning students: $50
New students: $200
A deposit for a room reservation is required of all students applying and reapplying for residence in University Housing for the fall or spring semester. This deposit will be applied to the regular room fee and must be paid in full to be considered for reservation of a specific room whether applying or reapplying for housing. After May 1st the room reservation deposit is non-refundable.
Refund of the room reservation deposit can be made only if the Director of Residence Life is notified in writing of room cancellation prior to July 15 of the year of enrollment or re-enrollment or by December 1 if entering in the spring semester. The Office of Residence Life reserves the right to rescind a private room when space is needed.
Room and Board Fees
All students living in University housing are required to pay both room and board fees.
Semester $4,290
Annual $8,580
Single-occupancy Dorm Room Fee in addition to Room and Board fees
Semester $1,108
Annual $2,215
Dorm Key Replacement Fee: $150
Residence Hall Damages
Residence Hall damages are assessed when, after students have removed all their belongings from the room, checked out properly with the residence hall staff, and returned their keys, the room condition form indicates any damages to areas such as the residence hall room, floor, hall or furnishings. After this assessment, the student’s tuition account will be billed for these damages to the residence hall. Additional community charges might apply for hall damages identified as such.
Available to full- and part-time students. An annual premium will appear on your fall bill if you are a full-time undergraduate. This rate is subject to review by the carrier. All coverage terminates as stated in the policy. Fees and details are available in Student Services, Krauss Hall second floor.
Specific information regarding meal plans (both resident and commuter) can be found at www.CUChicagodining.com. There are no refunds on meals missed. The student meal pass is NOT transferable. Consult the Housing Agreement for additional conditions.
No refund is allowed on food service unless notification is received by the Director of Residence Life four days prior to the effective date of cancellation for the semester. A full refund is awarded for semester sessions not attended. Semester refunds for those moving off campus will be prorated. Withdrawals from school will be based on the federal policy as previously stated. Credit for consecutive absences (in excess of two weeks) from the University meal service will be allowed under certain limited conditions, such as illness or other causes beyond the control of the student, if reported to the Dean of Students within one week, will be based on the initiation of the absence.
$75 per semester / $150 annually
All students operating motorized vehicles while attending Concordia must register their vehicles.
(no overnight parking) $110 per year; $55 per semester
Overnight Vehicle Fee $470 per year, $235 per semester
A parking permit is required for all student vehicles. Please see the “Comprehensive Campus Traffic and Parking Policy and Procedures” document available through the Public Safety Office, for all parking regulations on and adjacent to the campus.
Part-Time Student Activities Fee: $136 per year, $68 per semester
Assessed to all undergraduate students enrolled in less than 12 hours as of the beginning of each semester by the Concordia University Chicago Student Association. The fee is prorated as follows for partial year enrollment:
Assessed to all undergraduate students enrolled in 12 or more hours as of the beginning of each semester by the Concordia University Chicago Student Association. The fee is prorated as follows for partial year enrollment:
$254 per year or $127 per semester. Assessed to all students enrolled in 12 or more hours at the beginning of each semester:
Ten dollars per credit hour (not to exceed $127) is assessed to all students enrolled in less than 12 hours at the beginning of each semester. This fee is not charged for those students who are registered as high school students or 60+ Program students taking their courses as ‘no credit.’ This fee is assessed to all Undergraduate, Graduate, Adult Degree Completion Program, Colloquy and 60+ Program students who are taking their courses ‘for credit.’
The identification cards issued remain the property of the University and are subject to return to the University upon termination, change of status or completion of the term.
Required of all students receiving a degree or a Certificate of Advanced Studies. Graduation fees are assessed and payable one month prior to the graduation date.
Payment must accompany any request that requires it. (Cash, check, or money order payable to Concordia University Chicago, or credit card are accepted). These fees are subject to change at any time throughout the year.
Regular transcript orders: No charge
Regular orders normally will be processed within 10 working days and will be sent via first class mail, or may be picked up in person.
Twenty-four-hour Transcript Order: $15 per order
Twenty-four-hour transcript orders will be processed within 24 hours of receipt of the written request. Such transcript orders will be sent via first class mail or may be picked up in person. Over-the-counter transcripts are not available.
Twenty-four-hour Overnight Express Order: $40 per order
Twenty-four-hour overnight express transcript orders will be processed within 24 hours of receipt of the written request; all efforts will be made to send orders out on the day received. Such orders will be sent via overnight express through the institution’s contracted shipping company.
Twenty-four-hour FAX Order: $15 per order
Twenty-four-hour FAX orders will be processed within 24 hours of receipt of the written request; all efforts will be made to send such orders out on the day received. A faxed copy (unofficial) will be sent as soon as possible followed by an official copy within 24 hours.
A Credential File includes information on a student’s teacher education program and is maintained by the institution’s Placement Office. Credential file orders should be requested in writing to the Educational/Synodical Placement Office. Charges are as follows:
• Regular orders: No charge
• Regular orders normally will be processed within 10 working days.
• Twenty-four-hour order: $15 per order
• Twenty-four-hour transcript orders will be processed within 24 hours of receipt of the written request.
• Twenty-four-hour overnight express order: $40 per order
• Twenty-four-hour overnight express orders will be processed within 24 hours of receipt of the written request; all efforts will be made to send orders out on the day received. Such orders will be sent via overnight express through the institution’s contracted shipping company.
• Twenty-four-hour FAX Order: $15 per order
• Twenty-four-hour FAX orders will be processed within 24 hours of receipt of the written request; all efforts will be made to send such orders out on the day received.