Glossary of Fees
2024-2025
For the most current and complete information see http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/fees/
All tuition, fees, expenses, and policies listed in this publication are effective fall 2024 and are subject to change without notice by Iowa State University and the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.
Tuition
Tuition is charged based upon the number of credits in which a student is enrolled. Maximum charges start at 12 credits for undergraduate and veterinary medicine students. Maximum charges start at 9 credits for graduate students.
Students who are not residents of Iowa pay a higher tuition rate each semester. Nondegree undergraduate students and noncollegiate students pay the same fees as undergraduates. Tuition and fees are assessed in accordance with regulations of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa. Information about these regulations are found in this catalog under Admissions and Registrar.
Fees
Following are the descriptions of several commonly assessed fees for Iowa State University students. The list is not inclusive. All fees are subject to change without notice.
Account Review Fee (per credit hour): This fee will be assessed to those students who request account research for prior semester periods. The $10 per hour fee (with a minimum of $10) helps defray the costs of personnel time taken to perform the research, which involves gathering information from various sources when the request is made for a prior semester.
Application Fees (non-refundable):
Undergraduate Domestic Student and Non-Degree Student - This application fee is charged to individuals in the undergraduate domestic student and non-degree student categories applying for admission to Iowa State University. This fee is charged to cover administrative costs such as IT costs, personnel, and postage.
Undergraduate International Student - This application fee is charged to non-immigrants applying for undergraduate admission to Iowa State University. This fee is charged to cover administrative costs such as IT costs, personnel, and postage. These individuals are charged a higher rate because of the additional costs associated with the evaluation of foreign academic records, the need to maintain certain resource materials and immigration forms, and increased postage for overseas mailings.
Graduate Domestic Student - This application fee is charged to individuals in the graduate domestic student category applying for admission to Iowa State University. This fee is charged to cover administrative costs such as IT costs, personnel, and postage.
Graduate International Student - This application fee is charged to non-immigrants applying for graduate admission to Iowa State University. This fee is charged to cover administrative costs such as IT costs, personnel, and postage. These individuals are charged a higher rate because of additional costs associated with the evaluation of foreign academic records, the need to maintain certain resource materials and immigration forms, and increased postage for overseas mailings.
Veterinary Medicine Student - This application fee is charged to individuals applying for admission to the Veterinary Medicine College at Iowa State University for their first degree-seeking enrollment. This fee is charged to cover administrative costs such as IT costs, personnel, and postage.
Applied Music Fees (range of $100 - $290): The music fee is charged to students receiving private music instruction and is in addition to regular tuition. The fee offsets the costs of one-on-one instruction. Revenue generated from this fee is returned to students through music scholarships.
One credit of instruction is $150; the fee for two or three credits is $190.
Career Services: The career services fees vary among college-based career services offices ranging from $0 - $25 per student.
Continuing Education (per credit hour): A special tuition rate is assessed to students participating in online degree programs. The undergraduate assessment is $375 - $1,316 per credit and the graduate rate is $611 - $1,848 per credit. Students may be charged other fees in addition to tuition for enrolling in these programs.
Deferred Billing Administration Fee: Each term, students who do not pay their first payment in full by the due date will automatically select the deferred option, and will be charged a $20 administrative fee.
Departmental Exam for Credit Fee (per exam): This $100 fee partially covers the expenses of creating or purchasing, administering, and scoring special examinations to determine whether students may receive test-out credit for a course in which they are not formally enrolled.
Developmental: A developmental course fee is charged in addition to the tuition charged for other courses on the student's schedule. For example: A student taking 12 credits plus a developmental course will pay full-time tuition for the 12 credits, plus the developmental course fee(s). Developmental course fees range from $390 - $480. These fees are intended to cover the direct costs of offering these developmental courses.
Doctoral Post Comprehensive or Prelim: Doctoral Continuous Registration is used only for medical, maternity, military, or personal/family leave. The fee will be $70. Permission is required in order to register for this course. Permission may be requested via the Graduate College Petition form. This option is only available to Ph.D. students who have passed their preliminary examination and not yet taken their final examination.
Graduate College Fees - Copyright Fees – Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis (Optional): PhD and Master’s candidates may pay an optional fee of $55 for copyright services offered through ProQuest/UMI. The copyright fee covers the U.S. copyright fee as well as the costs to ProQuest of the copies required by the Copyright Office. The student will authorize this on-line with a credit card when submitting the electronic thesis.
Late Fee for Applying After Deadline (Graduate College students only) - A late fee of $20 will be assessed to Graduate College students applying for graduation after the graduation application deadline for a specific semester.
Health Insurance: All international students and their accompanying dependents must enroll in the ISU Student and Scholar Health Insurance Program. ISU requires nonimmigrant international students and their dependents to purchase and maintain coverage through the ISU health insurance plan for the duration of their tenure at the university. Insurance plans purchased outside the university may be used for supplemental coverage, but cannot be substituted for the ISU plan. Students not assessed the mandatory Student Health Fee and spouses of students should contact the Student Health Insurance Office at 515-294-4820 for more information.
Identification Card (ISUCard) Replacement Fee: All students receive their first identification card free of charge. Those cardholders who have lost or misplaced their identification cards are assessed a $25 fee to cover the cost of replacement which includes the cost of materials, processing, and personnel associated with the replacement process.
International Student Orientation Fee: This $120 fee is charged to all new undergraduate degree-seeking students in a non-immigrant status. This fee will support the international student orientation program as well as provide other transitional programs and activities unique to the international student population.
Lakeside Lab: Iowa Lakeside Laboratory is a field station of Iowa's state universities that provides summer classes and research opportunities for students. The mission of Lakeside Lab is twofold: 1) to provide science classes and research opportunities for university students and 2) to offer public programs and provide services through the state universities. Lakeside Lab offers students a unique educational experience through small full-immersion, field-oriented courses. This fee ($375 undergraduate; $611 graduate) helps to cover program costs. More information can be found at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.
Late Payment of Fees or Charges: The finance charge is a penalty charged to discourage late payment of bills, as well as to make up for the university's lost opportunity for investment income. The up to 1% per month finance charge also helps defray the costs of extra IT costs, handling, and mailing involved with the record keeping and collection of charges over a longer period of time. This fee is assessed to students and non-students.
Late Registration: This fee is assessed to students who do not register for classes before the first day of class. This fee is an administrative charge to encourage students to register for classes in a timely manner so as to provide enrollment management data to administrative areas who can make decisions on how to best utilize university resources. The stepped up fee for graduate students is necessary because ISU provides tuition scholarships for students on assistantship appointments. Students who do not register by the end of the second week may create significant payroll, fee assessment, and scholarship problems that will take excess staff time to resolve.
Graduate Students, Day 11 onward - $100
New Student Programs/Matriculation Fees: The New Student Programs/Matriculation fee of $290 will be assessed to all new degree-seeking undergraduates. The fee covers costs associated with orientation and Destination Iowa State programming for all new first-year and transfer students and their guests, including math assessment, publications, digital and print communications, programming, and salaries for student assistants who provide essential services to students and their families during orientation and Destination Iowa State.
If a student chooses not to enroll at Iowa State, the fee is refundable, minus a $50 administrative fee to defer costs of initial processing if the student withdraws their acceptance no later than May 1 for summer/fall semesters and November 1 for spring semester.
Records and Documents Fee: The Records and Documents fee funds schedule changes, graduation and commencement, and transcript requests. This fee consolidates and replaces the previous transcript, schedule change, and application for graduation fees, offering an improved value for students and alumni.
Starting in Fall 2017, all students (including new direct from high school, transfer, and re-entry students) will be assessed the Records and Documents Fee once in their lifetime (with the exception of students who move from non-degree to degree-seeking status: specifically, a non-degree seeking student who chooses to later pursue a degree will be charged the $175 difference between the $75 non-degree rate and the $250 degree-seeking rate).
Reissue Check Fee/Returned Check/Debit Fee
Reissue Check Fee: This fee will be assessed to those individuals who request the issuance of a duplicate check. This $30 charge helps defray the personnel time involved in researching the check, the cost of printing a new check, as well as the bank costs.
Returned Check: - This $30 fee is a surcharge against the maker of a dishonored check. According to Section 554.3512, subsection 1, Code 2003 of the State of Iowa, a fee of $30 may be assessed against the maker of a dishonored payment instrument.
Debit Fee: This $30 fee is a surcharge against the person who authorizes a direct debit to an account that has
been closed or has insufficient funds. According to Section 554.3512, subsection 1, Code 2003 of the State of Iowa,
a fee of $30 may be assessed against the maker of a dishonored payment instrument.
Senior Fee (optional): This is a $3 optional fee for graduating seniors. The funds generated by the fee go to the Senior Class Council that sponsors a variety of activities for seniors. Events include the Senior Send-off, spring and fall commencement receptions, international graduation reception, graduation breakfast, senior week, and the solicitation of pledges for the senior class gift.
Student Course Fee(s): Some courses have expenses above the cost of tuition that enhance the instruction. These fees may cover the cost of field trips, use of equipment, materials or supplies, or professional support. Applicable sstudent course fees are listed with the specific course in the Schedule of Classes available at http://classes.iastate.edu/. Student course fees also appear on each student's schedule detail available on AccessPlus.
Sponsored International Student Fee: The sponsored international student fee (5% of fees) is assessed to the sponsor of international students as a way to compensate for the special record keeping, billing requirements, correspondence, and the deferred payment option extended to sponsoring agencies.
Study Abroad Administrative Fee: This $50 fee is assessed to all students participating in a study abroad program. This fee is in addition to the center fee they must pay. This fee covers the cost of the study abroad registration system, study abroad emergency notification system, personnel time for registration, and the promotion and support of study abroad across campus.
Study Abroad Tuition: Assessment for study abroad credits up to a maximum of 12 credits is above and beyond tuition for other courses taken during the same term.
Study Abroad Center Fee: This study abroad program fee of $275 is assessed to students participating in a program managed by the Study Abroad Center. It is used to partially finance the cost of administering these programs which includes program advising, program development, program promotion, and site visits to veterinary programs.
Thesis Fee - Masters/Doctorate: This $145 nonrefundable fee is charged to any student who submits a master's degree thesis or doctoral dissertation to the Graduate College. This fee helps defray costs associated with providing part-time support for the thesis office, electronic thesis administration, and the salary of the thesis reviewer.
Transcript/Certification FedEx Expedited Shipping Charge: A $20 (domestic) and $50 (internationl) fee is charged for expedited FedEx delivery for sending official documents, such as transcripts, certifications, and statement of account, using FedEx expedited services.
Veterinary Medicine Advance Payment: Student applicants to the College of Veterinary Medicine who have accepted an offer for a position to enroll in that college may subsequently change their mind and withdraw, sometimes as late as the first day of classes. These late withdrawals can result in unfilled spaces, or the need to ask an alternate candidate to make a hasty move to Ames with little time to make arrangements for financial aid, housing, or books. To reduce the incidence of late withdrawals, admitted students are assessed a non-refundable payment toward tuition of $750
Veterinary Medicine Mobile Computing Fee: This $2,650 fee is charged to all students when they first matriculate to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program. This includes entering first year veterinary medicine students and students transferring in from another College of Veterinary Medicine. This fee supports the college's mobile computing initiative. The fee covers a tablet PC and required software. This initiative ensures that students 1) have the most effective and efficient learning experience possible and 2) enter the workforce prepared to use current technologies continuing education and professional practice.
*Additional charges may apply for expedited delivery services.