The University offers an optional, interest-free semester based payment plan. The plan helps families spread the cost of eligible charges over monthly payment installments (plan length depends upon time of enrollment in the plan). The plan will automatically rebalance to match the student account balance (including any anticipated aid).
Automatic payment installments occur on the 15th of each month that a plan is active for. The plan owner will receive a notification prior to the actual withdrawal. It is important to note that if a student is the owner of a payment plan, their Authorized User will not receive a notification. However, if the Authorized User is the owner of a payment plan, both the Authorized User and student will receive notifications.
The fall payment plan's final installment is October 15th. The spring payment plan's final installment is March 15th. There is a $60 enrollment fee associated with each semester a payment plan is utilized.
A payment plan for international students is also available. Read below for more information and how to sign up for either payment plan through UVAPay. Enrollment deadlines for fall semesters are June 15 (5-month plan), July 15 (4-month plan) and August 15 (3-month plan). Enrollment deadlines for spring semesters are November 15 (5-month plan), December 15 (4-month plan) and January 15 (3-month plan). For both fall and spring semesters, after the 3 month plans expire, two-month plans will be available for 30 days.
Of course, there is no requirement to use the payment plan; you may pay your balance due in full by your due date instead. Note that there is no payment plan available for the summer or January Term.
Follow this link for step-by-step instructions for enrolling in the UVAPay optional semester payment plan, or read below for important information about the plan.
- All students who are directly charged by the University.
- Authorized users can enroll in a payment plan on behalf of their student.
- Students and authorized users must be willing to allow automatic withdrawals from a personal U.S. checking account or scheduled charges to a debit or credit card.
Note: Federal Work Study funds are not credited to the student account up front and so should not be factored into the budgeting process for semester payment plans or how much you might need to pay out of pocket at the start of a term.
Charges eligible for and covered by the payment plan | |
Tuition and Required Fees | Tuition, course fees, comprehensive fees, school fees, and activity fees |
Housing | Costs for living in University housing facilities |
Dining | Costs for University meal plans |
Departmental Charges | Departmental charges are referred to the student account from another University office. Examples include University Bookstore, Student Health, Library, Parking and Transportation, Emergency Ride Program, and School of Architecture printing fees |
Charges not eligible for or covered by the payment plan | |
Health Insurance Charge | The health insurance charge is excluded from the Tuition & Fee payment plan. |
Emergency Loans | |
Students or one of the student's authorized users can enroll in a UVAPay semester payment plan. Our system supports one plan per term, and there is one plan owner per plan (we currently do not support multiple plans per term). Because the payment plan agreement is between the plan owner and the University, only the plan owner can manage the associated payment methods.
- If the student enrolls, the student is the owner of the plan and will receive communications about their plan. If a student is the owner of the plan, an authorized user will not automatically receive any email communications.
- If an authorized user enrolls in a payment plan for their student, the authorized user is the owner of the plan and will automatically receive the payment plan emails (as well as the student).
Here's how it works:
Budget Phase
Before you have actual charges posted to your student account, you will build a budget of your payment plan in UVAPay using the tuition estimator (housed within the enrollment form) or the cost of attendance information, and you will be asked to provide information about other credits you anticipate will apply to your student account. These tools will assist you in estimating the "out-of-pocket costs" you will need to pay over the course of your payment plan period. During this budget phase, monthly installment amounts are based on your estimated balance, divided by the number of installments remaining in the payment plan. Want to get an estimate of your charges? Try our Undergraduate Student Cost Estimator.
Need to make changes to your budgeted amounts? Call or email SFS. Or just wait until after charges post and we will automatically adjust your budgeted balance.
Actual Phase
Soon after your term charges have posted to your student account, typically by mid-July for fall term and mid-December for spring term, we will adjust your payment plan balance to match the student account balance. This process is called rebalancing and it happens every month, about ten days before each installment is processed. Rebalancing knows to subtract the anticipated financial aid displayed on the Account Summary and Account Activity tabs when it calculates your payment plan balance. Don't worry about being caught off guard by a new installment amount, though. We'll keep you informed by email if we are rebalancing your plan up or down in plenty of time for you to ensure you have the funds in your account by the time of the installment payment on the 15th of each month.
Paying with eCheck, Credit or Debit Card
Changing your Payment Method
Only the payment plan owner has the ability to change the payment method. To do so, the owner should:
- Log into UVAPay
- Select the Payment Plans tab
- Click on the Manage Autopay button, then change or update the payment method for upcoming installments
- Any changes or updates to the Payment Method must be completed no later than one calendar day before the date of the scheduled automatic installment.
For example, if a payment is scheduled for October 15 and the payment plan owner would like to change the bank account the automatic installment payment will be drawn from, he or she must do so by midnight, Eastern Time, on October 14. Otherwise, the installment payment will be drawn from the old bank account instead of the new one.
Failed Payments
You will receive notification before any installment is processed to give you an opportunity to make sure sufficient funds are available to process each upcoming installment. Once your payment plan is in the Actual Phase, if an installment fails for any reason, the payment plan will be automatically terminated. This might occur if a credit card transaction is declined, an eCheck is returned for insufficient funds, or your bank account is closed. You will also be charged a $50 non-refundable fee for each failed payment plan installment. If you wish to reactivate your plan after termination occurs for this reason, you must contact Student Financial Services directly for assistance.
Multiple Payment Plans
Students can have only one active payment plan at a time during an academic term. Even if a student has more than one authorized user, the student may only have one payment plan for a payment plan period. For example, two authorized users cannot both have a fall term payment plan for the same student in the same semester.
An optional, interest-free international semester payment plan is available to help families overseas spread the cost of eligible charges into monthly payment installments (plan length depends upon time of enrollment in the plan).
Payment installments are due on the 15th of each month that a plan is active for, and must be submitted manually to ensure accurate exchange rates (automatic draft is not possible for international cross-border transactions). The plan owner will receive reminder notifications prior to each payment due date (10 days and 5 days prior to installment due date). It is important to note that if a student is the owner of a payment plan, their Authorized User will not receive a notification. However, if the Authorized User is the owner of a payment plan, both the Authorized User and student will receive notifications. Note that payments made using a non-US bank issued credit card will incur a 3.95% transaction fee and have a $3.00 minimum.
The fall payment plan's final installment due date is October 15th. The spring payment plan's final installment due date is March 15th. Enrollment in an international payment plan requires the first installment to be paid at the time of enrollment, in addition to a $60 enrollment fee each semester a plan is utilized.
Fall enrollment deadlines are June 15, 2024 (5-month plan), July 15, 2024 (4-month plan) and August 15, 2024 (3-month plan).
There is no requirement to use the international payment plan; you may pay your balance due in full by your due date instead. Note that there is no payment plan available for the summer or January Term.
Follow this link for more information about making international and wire transfer payments.
Payment Plans may be cancelled due to a failed enrollment fee payment or a failed installment payment. A payment may fail as a result of incorrect credit card or bank information, expired card information, or insufficient funds. If your plan was cancelled, the plan owner receives notification including the reason for why the payment failed. If you would like your plan reactivated, please contact [email protected] to request plan reactivation access. Once enabled, the plan owner will see the option to “Reactivate” their plan under the Payment Plan tab. Only the plan owner can reactive their payment plan.
If your payment plan was cancelled due to an expired credit card or bad account information, you will need to update your payment method in order to reactivate your plan.
- In UVAPay at the top right, the student should click on “My Account” and then click on “Payment Methods.”
- Under “Manage Payment Methods,” identify the expired payment method and either edit or delete the payment method (see below for image)
- To edit or delete, click on the “⋮” menu button under the “Actions” column then click “Edit” to update the payment information or “Delete” to remove the method. (see below for image)
- Once payment method has been updated, you’ll be able to reactive your plan under the “Payment Plan” tab.
Choose "Payment Methods" under the "My Account" menu.
Then edit your available payment methods, or delete ones you no longer use
The University also offers an optional, interest-free payment plan to help spread the cost of the Aetna Student Health Insurance plan over monthly payment installments. Health insurance payment plans become available in early October after the student health insurance charge posts. There is a $50 non-refundable enrollment fee associated with a health insurance payment plan.
Automatic payment installments are scheduled for November 1st, December 1st, and January 1st (students eligible for a spring plan will have a 2-month option with installments on April 1st and May 1st). The plan owner will receive a notification prior to the actual withdrawal. It is important to note that if a student is the owner of a payment plan, their Authorized User will not receive a notification. However, if the Authorized User is the owner of a payment plan, both the Authorized User and student will receive notifications.
Enrollment in a health insurance payment plan covers the Health Insurance charge only. This plan does not rebalance. The health insurance plan is separate from the standard Semester Tuition and Fees payment plan as noted in the eligible charges section above.