COVID-19 Billing Information About Tuition, Fees and On-Campus Housing and Meals

Tuition will not be adjusted in relation to the modality of courses. CU Boulder continues to deliver on its educational mission to students during COVID-19 through a mixture of in-person and remote courses. The university remains operational with remote and other online student support services and programs. Therefore, there are no plans to issue tuition refunds, partial or otherwise, due to the change in delivery/mode of instruction or services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details about waivers for fees for students whose summer class schedules are all remote or hybrid remote/online will be released soon.

• Tuition will not be reduced. CU Boulder continues to deliver on its educational mission to students during COVID-19 through a mixture of in-person and remote courses, and during the remote start of spring semester. The university remains operational with remote and other online student support services and programs.
• For our residence hall students, your room and board will be reduced to account for delayed move-in. Please visit Residence Hall Rates and Contracts for more information.
• Some important dates will change:
  • The tuition payment deadline has been extended from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12.
  • Please note that the payment plan enrollment deadline is still Feb. 4.
  • If you are enrolled in a payment plan, your first auto-payment will still be processed on Feb. 5, not Feb. 12.
  • First refunds for financial aid were available starting Jan. 8 instead of Jan. 11
  • February bills for unpaid or new charges will be available on Feb. 17 instead of Feb. 11.
• Student fees that do not offer remote or virtual experiences (location-based fees) will be adjusted for remote start as follows:
  • Location-based fees are the Athletic Fee, the Bike Program Fee,* a portion of the Rec Center Expansion Fee, and the Transit Pass Fee.* 
    *Colorado resident undergraduate students in tuition guarantee groups A–O will see "Student Bus & Bike Fee Refund." This label remains in effect during your four-year tuition guarantee.
  • 25% of location-based fees have been applied to students’ tuition accounts as a credit. You can view the credits in the “Credit and Payments” section at the bottom of “Account Detail.” Access to services like the bus pass will continue uninterrupted.
  • Students whose class schedules are all remote or hybrid remote/online will receive full location-based fee waivers (same as fall 2020). These students who wish to use services like the bus pass have a couple of options. See Location-based Fee Waivers for All Remote and Hybrid Remote/Online Class Schedules.

These adjustments were applied to your student account in early January before most people paid the spring bill. Instead of receiving an actual refund, the total amount due was reduced. You can view the location-based fee adjustments on your student account in the “Credit and Payments” section at the bottom of “Account Detail.” If you live in the residence halls, the on-campus housing rate you were charged was a reduced rate which reduced the total amount due for spring. You can see an estimate of the rate you were charged at Residence Hall Rates and Contracts.

Yes. Your CollegePass is valid during the period of remote start so you will have uninterrupted access to use the bus. If your schedule consists of all remote or hybrid remote/online classes, please see Location-based Fee Waivers for All Remote and Hybrid Remote/Online Class Schedules for more information.

You can see estimates of annual costs on our cost pages or specific details on tuition rate sheets.

Spring 2021 bills will be available on Jan. 14. Payment is due Feb. 12. Students can access their student account information on the Tuition & Fees card in Buff Portal. Authorized payers can access the student account in CUBill&Pay. (Date may be subject to change.)

The blend of in-person, hybrid, remote and online courses offered this year does not diminish the quality and value of a degree from CU Boulder. The main accreditation criteria for our courses remain the same whether they are taught in person, online or remotely: our courses must involve regular and substantive instructor interaction with students. With remote and online teaching, faculty and instructors are still able to:

• Provide regular instruction and interact regularly with their students. 
• Provide full and substantive assessments and regular feedback on students’ coursework.
• Be proactive and available in providing information or responding to students’ questions about the content of the course.

Faculty across campus continue to incorporate best practices for teaching and learning in various teaching modalities into the design of their courses.

In addition, the Center for Teaching & Learning has partnered with Continuing Education, the Office of Information Technology and the Office of Academic Innovation to offer workshops and provide resources and individual consultations for faculty on effective, evidence-based practices for remote and online teaching.

We are also prioritizing classes for in-person delivery whose academic outcomes are difficult to achieve virtually (e.g., computer labs, performance classes, studios).

Finally, the Boulder campus is going to great lengths to modify our campus operations in a way that will allow us to safely provide on-campus experiences for our students. We continue to make significant investments in our COVID-19 health and safety infrastructure in order to provide a safe learning and working environment for our students, staff and faculty.

Because the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and their families is our top priority, if necessary, the campus is prepared to make a decision to move to a fully remote learning environment in order to maintain the health and safety of our campus community. No matter the instruction mode, students will receive the full and accredited CU Boulder curriculum using the latest instructional design modalities and tools to maximize engagement between students, their peers and professors. If changes are made to class instruction mode for any reason, Spring 2021 tuition will not be adjusted.