Policies
Please familiarize yourself with North Park University’s billing and payment policies. Failure to make proper payment arrangements for a student account could result in a hold on the account, which may prevent a student from enrolling in classes or utilizing the resources of the University. Questions regarding these student account policies or specific accounts should be directed to Student Accounts at studentaccounts@northpark.edu.
Explanation of Charges
Traditional Undergraduate Programs
A full-time, traditional undergraduate student is defined, for billing purposes, as a student taking 12 or more credit hours per semester. Eligibility for full-time benefits for certain types of federal financial aid require that a student take a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester. Typically, a full-time, traditional undergraduate student will average about 15 credit hours per semester. The Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) Grant requires that a student take 15 or more credit hours to receive the maximum grant.
A fixed amount of tuition is charged to full-time students taking 12 to 17 credit hours. Part-time students (those taking 1–11 credit hours) are charged by the credit hour. There is an overload charge per credit hour for each hour in excess of 17 credits per semester.
Review our current undergraduate tuition rates.
Degree-Completion Undergraduate or Graduate Programs
Students in nontraditional undergraduate (School of Professional Studies, RN-to-BSN degree completion) or graduate programs are charged based upon the tuition/fee schedules established for those programs. Most courses are billed on a per-credit-hour basis.
Traditional undergraduate students must abide by the University’s campus housing requirement.
Students living in University-operated housing (residence halls or apartments) are considered resident students. Resident students are billed each semester for housing and are held to the housing contract obligations. The contract is effective for the first, second, and third years of attending North Park University (or for the remainder thereof). It is binding for that period and is not transferable. The academic year is defined as beginning with the fall semester and ending at the conclusion of the spring semester.
Students who live in winter break, spring break, and/or summer housing at North Park University will incur additional charges.
There is an additional charge each semester for students living in single rooms without roommates.
Review current housing charges for undergraduate students.
Students residing in Graduate Student Housing must abide by the Graduate Student Housing Guidelines and will be billed rent for their campus apartments on a monthly basis.
All resident students living in University residence halls are required to purchase one of the available University meal plans. Resident students living in University apartments may also purchase a meal plan, but are not required to do so. There are also meal plans available for commuter students. Learn more about current meal-plan pricing and options.
Special fees are charged for specific purposes. Some of the more frequently assessed fees are described below:
- Course Add Fee: Adding a course after the registration period, including courses added as a part of late registration
- Lab/Course Fees: Special fees for certain courses that require special University-owned equipment and/or supplies (especially lab courses), or because of other special course requirements
- Resident Activities Fee: A fee used to support student activities for resident students, billed each semester
- Parking Stickers: Permits are required to use North Park University parking lots, and payment for parking stickers is made at the time of purchase
- Overload Fee: An additional per-credit-hour fee charged to traditional undergraduate students who register for more than 17 credit hours per semester
- Finance Charge: A finance charge of 1.5% per month assessed on unpaid account balances
- Late Payment Fee: A late payment fee will be assessed if payment is not made by the stated due date each semester
- Tech Fee: A fee used to support the installation and maintenance of technology across campus. Undergraduate students are billed a flat rate each semester, while graduate/adult students are charged a fee per credit hour.
- UPass Fee: All full-time traditional undergraduate students will receive a UPass, which will allow unlimited rides on the CTA while school is in session.
Deposits
- A tuition deposit is required of all traditional undergraduate and graduate students. It will be posted to your student account as a payment toward your tuition for your first semester at North Park.
- A refundable deposit for housing and food is required of all resident students. Damage assessments, if any, are taken from this deposit when students move out of campus-owned housing. Occasionally, there may be other losses due to residential living (e.g. excessive food waste or shrinkage of dining hall supplies). In these cases, an assessment may be charged to all student housing and food deposits. This damage deposit does not appear as a credit on your bill while you are a student. The remainder of your deposit (less any damage assessments) will be returned to you when you graduate or leave the University and have paid your account in full.
Financial Aid on Your Bill
Bills show financial aid awards as “pending.” These awards are communicated separately to students via a financial aid package from the Financial Aid Office. In many cases, there are specific actions required by a student to qualify for and receive financial aid. Most financial aid will be credited to the student’s account at the end of the fourth week of the term. Students will be notified by the Financial Aid Office if additional documentation is needed.
Changing student status from “resident” to “commuter” or changing credit hours (i.e., dropping below a certain credit-hour threshold) may result in a reduction of financial aid. Before making changes, you must verify aid requirements with the Financial Aid Office.
Undergraduate students may be awarded federal work-study as part of their financial aid package. Work-study is not shown as anticipated aid on your bill, nor is it credited to a student’s account. Students are paid for hours worked and may apply their funds to their bills as payments.
Please contact the Financial Aid Office for more information about aid eligibility.
Financial Aid Self-Service will provide you with information about your awards, missing documents, etc. Watch this video to learn more about this tool.
Student Account Policies
Students must make arrangements for financing this semester’s charges prior to the payment due date.
Charges will be billed in advance of each semester based on the student’s registration schedule according to the registrar, housing, and Financial Aid Office. Payment for those charges is due by the published payment due date. The following are the payment due dates:
- Fall semester: August 15
- Spring semester: January 15
- Summer semester: May 15
Changes to registration may affect a student’s charges. Unpaid balances are subject to late fees and finance charges of 1.5% of the unpaid balance per month. Payment to North Park University is completed through Student Accounts. Payment must be made in U.S. funds. The University offers several payment options, including a monthly payment plan and online payments methods. Learn more about each of these payment options, including associated fees.
All returning students must have their accounts in good standing with the University in order to register for classes. Resident students also need clearance in order to confirm campus housing. The following conditions must be met:
- Outstanding balances from prior semesters must be paid in full.
- Charges for the current semester must be paid by the payment due date, or satisfactory payment arrangements must be made with Student Accounts.
- International students, undergraduate and graduate, studying at North Park University on either an F1 or J1 visa must have their student account balance paid in full by the stated due date or risk being out of status.
Students with outstanding balances will not be allowed to register for a new semester until all amounts from previous semesters are paid. A student with an outstanding balance will not receive transcripts and/or their diploma until all past due amounts are paid.
Student accounts which become delinquent may be submitted to a licensed collection agency. As a part of normal procedures, collection agencies may report to National Credit Bureaus. In addition, the collection costs charged by the agency may be assessed back to the delinquent account.
Students who withdraw from classes may be eligible for a full or partial refund on tuition and fees, depending on how many weeks of the semester have passed. Please see our billing policies for withdrawn students for information on refunds.