Phone: 708-209-3241 / 708-488-4293
Email: Student.accounts@cuchicago.edu
Location: AD 156
Website: https://www.cuchicago.edu/admission-financial-aid/undergraduate/student-business-services/
Concordia University Chicago accepts all fees with the understanding that the student, by being assessed such fees, agrees to abide by all the regulations of the University, whether printed in this catalog or not, and by any appropriate decisions of the administration or faculty regarding the student’s status in the University. Although the University exercises reasonable precautions, it can assume no responsibility for accidents to students that may occur, incident to, by attendance at, or participation in classroom or laboratory work, intramural activities or other University programs and activities. Also, the University does not accept responsibility for any personal property lost, stolen, damaged or misplaced.
During the period of this catalog issue, the University will make every effort to maintain the fees listed. However, rising costs may necessitate an interim increase in fees. Concordia University Chicago reserves the right to change its tuition and fee rates and policies with no advance notice. Any such changes shall only apply on a prospective basis.
Students shall pay all assessments by the published deadlines for payment, approximately 30 days before the beginning of each semester. Students wishing to register after the published deadline date for a given semester will be required to make payments before registrations are permitted. Only federal or state Financial Aid for the term that is confirmed by the Office of Financial Aid may be excluded from these requirements. Sources of funds not eligible for deferred tuition payments include income through student employment and tuition reimbursement by employer or other sources.
Method of Payment
Payments can be made in person, over the phone, online, or through a monthly tuition payment plan. Payments in person can be made with cash, money order, personal check, debit, or credit card. Payments made over the phone must be made by credit or debit card. All credit or debit card payments made over the phone or online will be subject to a 2.95% convenience fee to be added to the total amount of the payment. Accepted cards are VISA®, MasterCard®, American Express® and Discover®.
Payments mailed to the University must be either personal checks or money orders. Payments made online must be in the form of either a bank account (ACH) transaction or a credit or debit card. Online payments via ACH (electronic check) shall not incur additional charges. All fees, whether paid by a person or an organization, shall be paid in United States dollars.
Online payments can be made by logging into CUConnect:
- Select the “Billing/Financial Aid tab”
- Go to the “Tuition Payment Information” Portlet
- Select your preferred payment method under “Bill Payment Methods”.
Students With Outstanding Balances
Students with outstanding balances will be placed on “hold” status and will be prohibited from registering for courses until that “hold” status is released. Students with “hold” status due to outstanding balances also will not be allowed to participate in commencement ceremonies. All administrative obligations to CUC must be cleared in order to prompt the release of CUC transcripts and diploma(s). Students who graduated prior to June 2023 should contact the Office of the Registrar at Registrar@cuchicago.edu if they have not received their transcripts and/or diploma(s). Any account with an outstanding balance will incur a 1.5 percent or minimum of $25 service charge each month on the account until paid in full.
Students who have a hold on their account will not be allowed to participate in the Commencement Ceremony. If the student who planned to participate in the Commencement Ceremony has had extraordinary expenses that have not allowed them to meet their financial responsibility to CUC, they can submit an appeal to the Office of Student Business Services at least two weeks before the Commencement Ceremony. If the appeal is approved, the student has to complete a payment plan agreement with the Office of Student Business Services to participate in the Commencement Ceremony.
Email is the University’s primary source of communication. All communications initiated by the Student Business Services Office will be sent to the student’s assigned CUC email address. A statement of account will be uploaded each month after the start of the semester if the tuition account has a verified outstanding balance. An email will be sent to students’ CUC email address each time a new statement is uploaded to alert the student to log in to Concordia Connect to view/print their statement.
Concordia University Chicago retains the right to drop a student’s classes at any time in the event the student fails to meet payment deadlines.
Returned Checks
A fee of $36 will be assessed to the student’s tuition account for any check returned unpaid. If a second check is returned unpaid, an additional $50 for the second returned item and $75 for the third returned item. After the third returned item, the University will not accept any further personal checks on the account. Payment for any returned check must be made by certified funds (cash, cashier’s check or money order). A fee of $36 will be assessed to the student’s tuition account for any online check payment that is returned unpaid.
Please note: When using the online payment method through our third-party servicer, TouchNet, the payment information submitted, such as your bank account or credit card information and the student H-number, must be accurate. If there is an error in the information that is submitted, the payment may be returned unpaid by your financial institution. There is a fee of $36 that is posted to the student’s account, as TouchNet charges the University for returned payments. This is a non-negotiable fee and the student will be responsible. The University does not hold any liability to any incorrect information submitted by another party.
Collection Policy
If an outstanding balance remains on the student’s account after a term has ended and the student is no longer an enrolled student, an “in-house collection” process begins. With this process, the student will receive three (3) written notices in regard to action being taken. After the final collection notice is mailed, the student has 10 days to respond. If no response is received, the student’s account will be placed with a third party for collection.
At this point, the student is considered to be a collection account. Any efforts to collect the unpaid balance to Concordia University Chicago that are made by a third-party source are the student’s responsibility. Such costs include, but are not limited to, fees from outside collection agencies, attorney fees, court costs, service charges, etc. The student is to also understand that these are additional costs at a maximum of 39 percent of the debt to the tuition and fees due to the University. This policy is governed by Illinois law.
Please Note: To appeal charges for tuition, the student has one semester to submit an appeal to the Dean of Students. If the appeal is not made within that time period, your appeal will not be reviewed. Students should contact the college dean that houses the course for guidance regarding the grade appeal process. Concordia University Chicago retains the right to drop a student’s classes at any time in the event the student fails to meet payment deadlines.
Tuition
Contact Concordia University Chicago’s Office of Graduate Admission and Student Services for availability and pricing of all graduate programs. Payments must be made to the Concordia University Chicago Student Business Services Office by the published deadlines for payments. Failure to meet published deadlines may result in non-registration for that term/session or in future terms/sessions.
Deficiency Tuition Rates
Any graduate student who is pursuing the Master of Arts in Teaching at Concordia University Chicago and wishes to register for an undergraduate course to satisfy a deficiency must notify the Office of the Registrar at time of registration. Failure to do so will result in the forfeiture of deficiency tuition rates.
Applied Music Tuition
Applied music lessons include piano, organ, harpsichord, voice, band instruments, orchestral instruments, composition and/or improvisation. The University does not provide the use of an instrument for such lessons; however, a limited number of instruments are available.
The applied music tuition is charged to any student taking music lessons (MUSA courses) for either credit or audit. These courses are available for one-half credit (summer only) or for one or two credits during an academic term. Thirteen half-hour lessons per semester equal one hour of credit (not for graduate). Students pay the tuition rate for credit, plus an applied music fee. The tuition refund policy also applies to applied music tuition. For more information, please see the Fees section of this catalog.
Students are responsible to make contact with their applied music teacher within the first week of the semester.
Refund Policy
Once the applicable tuition and fees as well as financial aid has posted to your account, it is possible to have a credit balance. This can be recognized by reviewing your student tuition account online. If you find a negative sign (-) in front of the balance, you have a credit that can be refunded to you or you can use the credit as a book voucher at the CUC bookstore. The amount spent at the bookstore is posted to your account as a charge that will reduce your account credit.
Any credit balance information may be given in person or through your CUC email address, by the Business Services Office, not over the phone. Also, no other office may provide a credit balance amount to anyone other than the student for the student's protection and FERPA regulations of the University.
If a credit balance is reflected in the student's account, it will be automatically sent to the student within 14 days by direct deposit (if the student previously provided bank information) or by check (to the address currently on file). To confirm or provide direct deposit information for your refund, please follow this process:
- Log onto your Concordia Connect account by clicking here https://connect.cuchicago.edu/
- Click on the Billing/Financial Tab.
- Click on the Tuition & Fees Information link to view your account balance.
- Click on Electronic Refunds on the right side.
- Enroll in the two-step verification process
- Set up a new account to receive your refund.
It is the student’s responsibility to provide accurate information for the refund. The University will not be held responsible for any inaccurate bank account information or address.
Before we process your refund, you also have the option to authorize us to cover non-institutional charges such as but not limited to parking fines, late fees, immunization fees, etc. If you are interested in completing this authorization, you can find it in your CUConnect in the repository area as Credit Balance Authorization. You have to sign the form and send it to student.accounts@cuchicago.edu. If you choose not to complete this form, you will be responsible for paying these fees as soon as possible.
Tuition Refund Policy
- All fees are refundable at 100 percent when the course is dropped within the 100 percent refund period.
- If a course is dropped during any other refund period, all fees are non-refundable.
16-Week Courses
| Last day to. . . | End of. . . |
|---|---|
| Drop a class with a 100% refund | Week 2 |
| Drop a class with a 67% refund | Week 3 |
| Withdraw a class with no refund and a grade of W | Week 10 |
11-Week Courses
| Last day to. . . | End of. . . |
|---|---|
| Drop a class with 100% refund | Week 2 |
| Drop a class with a 67% refund | Week 3 |
| Withdraw a class with no refund and a grade of W | Week 5 |
8-Week Courses (First or Second Half of Term)
| Last day to. . . | End of. . . |
|---|---|
| Drop a class with a 100% refund | Week 2 |
| Drop a class with a 67% refund | Week 3 |
| Withdraw a class with no refund and a grade of W | Week 5 |
The refund policy for other parts-of-term can be found in the Academic Calendar. The refund policy for graduate cohort students can be found at: https://gradschool.cuchicago.edu/admission-financial-aid/tuition-billing-payment/graduate-refund-policies. Please be advised that this policy may be altered at any time and will be posted in the Student Business Services Office.
Note: Failure to attend class does not constitute an automatic withdrawal from the class after the 100% refund period. Students must drop courses through the GPS advisor before any refund will be issued. Failure to drop classes will result in no refund and a grade of "F" on the student's transcript.
As indicated in the Outstanding Balance section of this chapter, a student has one semester to appeal the tuition cost for a course to the Office of the Dean of Students or the college dean, respectively. Forms for grade appeals can be found under Resources in CUConnect. Failure to follow the procedure of an appeal will result in your appeal not being reviewed and you will be assessed the charges accordingly.
Withdrawal From the University
Outstanding balances are due in full upon withdrawing from Concordia University Chicago. See Collection Policy.
Withdrawals and Appeals for Tuition and Fees
Students applying for the graduate program sign a registration form acknowledging that they will be registered and charged for courses in the specified term and assigned to a cohort, after which a bill is uploaded to the student's CUC online account. Payment reminders are emailed to the CUC email address assigned to each student. Students that are out of compliance with the payment schedule receive email notices in regard to their account status and are service charged according to University policy. See Collection Policy.
Withdrawals: Failure to attend class after the 100% refund period does not constitute an automatic withdrawal from the course. Graduate students must drop courses via their GPS advisor after the 100% refund period. Failure to drop a course will result in no refund and a grade of "F" on the student's transcript after the 100% refund period.
All appeals are to be directed to the Assistant Vice President for Student Services via the student's GPS advisor. The student has the right to appeal the charges, fees and grades. The appeal must provide information that a decision can be based on granting or denying the appeal. Supporting documentation that would assist with the appeal must be provided. Each appeal is reviewed on an individual basis.
The maximum discount that would be given on an appeal after the semester the student was registered for will be 67 percent unless it can be shown that the charge was erroneous. This means that the student will be responsible for 33 percent of the tuition and 100 percent of all fees incurred. If there is cause to believe institutional error is the reason for the appeal, the student must provide supporting documentation of proof. This would include a copy and confirmation of a faxed drop form, emails, etc. Please be advised there is no guarantee the appeal will be granted.
Please note: To appeal charges for tuition or a grade, the student has one semester to write a letter of appeal to the Office of Graduate Admission and Student Services via the student's GPS advisor. If the appeal is not made within that time period, the appeal will not be reviewed. Students should contact their GPS advisor for guidance regarding the grade appeal process