Updated: June 3, 2020

This page provides information about changes to tuition, fees and on-campus housing charges resulting from COVID-19. We will continue to provide updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience.

On this page:

Fall 2020: Road Map to Fall 2020; Tuition & Fees

The chancellor has announced plans for Fall 2020. Please visit the following webpages for more information:

  • The CU Board of Regents approved no tuition or fee increases for incoming and returning students. CU Boulder’s four-year undergraduate tuition guarantee provides additional certainty for incoming and continuing students. The tuition is locked in for four years.
  • In addition, Residential Academic Program (RAP) fees have been eliminated for all residence hall students to increase access to RAP programming.

Tuition and fees vary depending on your degree, college/school/program and the number of credit hours in which you enroll. Visit Costs for more information.

The good news is, tuition rates will not increase for the 2020-21 academic year. This means that students entering the university in the Fall of 2020 will pay the same tuition rates as students who entered in the Fall of 2019. In addition, fees for Residential Academic Programs (RAP Fees) will be waived for Fall 2020.

There are no plans to adjust or remove fees for the 2020–21 academic year, apart from waiving the RAP fee.

Fall bills will be available online by August 13. Students will get an email notification when the bill is available and they will access the bill through Buff Portal (buffportal.colorado.edu). Bills will not be mailed.

Parents and families do not automatically have access to the bill. In Buff Portal, students can authorize up to five people to view and pay the bill online. Learn more about authorized payer access to CUBill&Pay.

Fall payment is due September 5. Additional charges like books, digital course materials and supplies may be billed the following month on Oct. 5.

Visit Road Map to Fall 2020 for details about our plans.

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Summer 2020: Classes, Tuition and Fees

The safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff continues to be our top priority. All summer classes will be offered in an online, remote or hybrid teaching format. These are the best options for providing continued high-quality education and maintaining everyone’s health to the best of our ability. Faculty and staff are working diligently to ensure that students’ education at CU Boulder maintains the same academic rigor and structure as in-person classes. Summer 2020 tuition will remain the same but with additional lead time and planning, we are able to waive several fees over the summer semester to help reduce student costs.

Modified Fees for Summer      Summer Costs    Explore Summer Session

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Spring 2020: Classes, Tuition, Fees and Housing

Spring tuition and fees will not be adjusted. Please visit Past Semester COVID-19 Information: Spring 2020 for details.

If you’re experiencing a hardship related to paying Spring 2020 tuition, and you would like to discuss payment options, please contact us at bursar@colorado.edu or 303-492-5381.

  • Late and finance charges for April 5 and May 5 Spring 2020 payment deadlines have been waived.  
  • Financial holds for students with outstanding balances from spring 2020 are temporarily lifted so they are able to register for summer and fall classes. This policy may be subject to change. Students with outstanding balances from Fall 2019 or prior, can contact the Bursar's Office at bursar@colorado.edu or 303-492-5381.
  • Room and board credits will appear on the student’s account as “Housing Room & Board Adj” and will apply to charges first. If there is any money leftover after applying to the charges on the account, refunds will be issued to students by direct deposit or check through the end of May.

If you still don’t see a refund yet, one of the following conditions applies:

  • The amount of charges on the student account exceeded the amount of the housing credit.

  • If you don’t see “Housing Room & Board Adj” on your student account, then the housing credit hasn’t been applied to the bill yet. Credits continue to be applied in no particular order through the end of May. We thank you for your patience.

  • If you see “Direct Deposit Refund” in the account detail, then the refund is on its way to the student’s designated bank account or it has already been deposited. Some banks take longer than others. Check your (the student’s) bank account.

  • If you see “Refund” in the account detail, a refund check will be issued and mailed to the student’s permanent address (if no mailing address exists). Students can check their addresses under Profile in Buff Portal. This process can take up to two weeks.

Students and parents (who are authorized payers) can the check the student account for credit and refund account activity. Students can view their account in Buff Portal and authorized payers can view the account in CUBill&Pay.

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