Commitment Deposit (Nonrefundable)
New U.S. Students and International Students
| Undergraduate Residents | $1,000 |
| Undergraduate Commuter | $500 |
| Full Time Graduate | $1,000 |
| Part Time Graduate | $500 |
Tuition and Fees
Tuition and fees for the 2023/2024 year will be available on the Student Financial Services website here
BENTLEY UNIVERSITY PAYMENT PLAN AND PAYMENT OPTIONS
Bentley University has developed a new payment plan which allows students to split up their balance owed on their student account over a maximum of five payments for a nominal fee of $35. To view the payment options click here.
ROOM AND BOARD
Although payable by semester, room charges are for the entire academic year. If a student agrees to the Housing and Meal Plan Contract and moves into housing, the student is obligated to pay for the entire academic year of housing, as long as the student is enrolled at Bentley University.
If a student believes they have an extenuating circumstance they may request permission to terminate the housing contract by completing and submitting the appropriate Contract Release Form available on the Housing Portal. Submitting this form does not automatically grant you a release from the Housing and Meal Plan Contract, as contract releases are not granted often. All students who submit the Contract Release Form prior to the release date outlined in the housing contract for the full academic year will not require the permission of the Director of the Residential Center or their designee to terminate their housing contract.
If a student submits a Contract Release Form after the release date outlined in the housing contract, the Director of the Residential Center or their designee will make a determination regarding the request after it is received. If the request is declined, then a student has the opportunity to appeal to a committee of university representatives who will make the final determination. The committee of university representatives will meet two (2) times per academic year to review appeals. A member of the Residential Center will inform the student of the committee’s decision via email to the student's Bentley University email account. If the request is approved, the housing assignment will be pro-rated and the student will pay a contract release fee. Questions regarding the process should be emailed to housing@bentley.edu.
OTHER EXPENDITURES
In general, students spend more than $1,000 for books and supplies during an academic year. Books and supplies issued to military veterans under Public Law 894 and 815 are billed to the government. Students who bring cars on campus are required to register them with University Police. Resident First-Year are not allowed to park their vehicles on campus without permission.
TUITION REFUNDS
All refund requests must be submitted online via Workday to the Office of Student Financial Services. Step by step guides for setting up refund elections and completing the online refund request form can be found here.
Withdrawal credits for tuition are made according to the following schedule:
| Withdrawal period | Amount to be credited |
|---|---|
| First week | 100 percent |
| Second week | 80 percent |
| Third week | 60 percent |
| Fourth week | 40 percent |
| Fifth week | 20 percent |
| No refund after end of fifth week. |
In the case of course withdrawal, scholarships initially credited toward tuition balances are subject to the same withdrawal credit percentage as the tuition charge. No cash refunds of scholarships are made.
Tuition refund disputes must be submitted in writing by completing a Tuition Refund Application.
Note: Bentley University has partnered with GradGuard to offer Tuition Insurance. The insurance provides 100% reimbursement for tuition, room, board and most other fees. Learn more and review the plan coverage to determine if it meets your needs at: https://gradguard.com/tuition or call (877) 794-6603.
APPLICATION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STUDENT ACCOUNT
Financial assistance is generally awarded for the full academic year; aid is disbursed by semester. At the start of each semester, one-half of the aid is credited to the student’s account. Institutional grants and scholarships are generally credited at the start of each term. Loans cannot be disbursed until promissory notes are completed and loan counseling requirements are met. For more information, please visit the Office of Financial Assistance web page.
FEDERAL POLICY FOR RETURN OF FEDERAL FUNDS
A federal regulation specifies how colleges and universities must determine the amount of federal financial aid a student earns if he/she withdraws or is withdrawn from the college or university, which differs from the university's refund policy and applies only to students receiving federal student aid. The law mandates that Bentley use a specific formula to calculate the percentage of federal student aid "earned" at the point of withdrawal. The amount of assistance that a student has earned is determined by the percentage of the semester completed. For example, if he/she has completed 30 percent of the semester, he/she earns 30 percent of the federal aid they were originally scheduled to receive. Once a student has completed more than 60 percent of the semester, they are considered to have earned all of their federal assistance.
If a student received excess funds that must be returned, Bentley University must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of the qualifying institutional charges for the term multiplied by the unearned percentage of the funds, or the entire amount of the excess funds.
If the university is not required to return all of the excess funds, the student must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that they must return, the student (or the student's parent for a PLUS loan) repays in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, the student makes scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.
If a student is responsible for returning grant funds, they do not have to return the full amount. The law provides that they are not required to return 50 percent of the grant assistance received that it is the student’s responsibility to repay. Any amount that does have to be returned is a grant overpayment and the student must make arrangements with the Department of Education to return the funds and will be ineligible for future federal student aid until completed. If Bentley must return part of their financial aid and the removal of those funds from their account creates a balance due, the student will be billed for this balance.
MAINTAINING ELIGIBILITY FOR AID
In order to remain eligible for financial assistance, students must meet standards of academic progress established in accordance with federal regulations. The Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) of aid applicants and recipients will be evaluated by the Office of Financial Assistance at the end of each semester. This evaluation generally occurs in January, May or August, after semester grades are posted, as part of our determination of continued financial aid eligibility for future semesters. SAP is determined by both a qualitative and quantitative appraisal. Qualitatively, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.7. Quantitatively, students must successfully complete (finishing with a passing grade) at least 67% of all attempted courses. An attempted course is one in which the student is enrolled after the second week of classes. Transfer credits accepted toward completion of a student’s program are also counted as both credits attempted and completed. Failure, withdrawal after the second week, or an incomplete (I) in a class constitutes an attempted course that is not successfully completed. Although aid is generally not available for repeat course work, repeated courses will be 4 counted in measuring this standard. In addition, aid applicants may not attempt more than 150% of the number of credits required for their degree. For instance, if a degree requires 30 credit hours, a student may not attempt more than 45 credit hours to achieve this degree. Students who fail to meet these SAP standards at the end of a term will be issued a Financial Aid Warning. Those given a warning will remain eligible for assistance for the next semester of attendance but must achieve the minimum 2.7 cumulative grade point average requirement and 67% completion rate at the conclusion of that term. After a term on Financial Aid Warning, students who fail to meet the SAP standards described above will lose eligibility for institutional and federal need-based assistance. Students will be notified in writing by the Office of Financial Assistance if they have lost aid eligibility. Students with significant and documented extenuating circumstances may appeal to regain aid eligibility through the Office of Graduate Academic Advising. Appeals must be made in writing and are required to include an explanation as to why the student failed to make SAP and what has changed that will allow the student to successfully make SAP at the next evaluation. Appeals are approved or denied at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Academic Advising. Students whose appeals are approved are placed on SAP probation, and thereby granted one additional semester of aid. In general, a student will be granted only one semester of SAP probation during their academic career. Students are expected to meet the standards of academic progress upon completion of the semester for which they were granted probation.
STUDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES BILLING AND COLLECTION POLICY
All Bentley students should review the policy here.