For the fall and spring semester programs, Washington University charges tuition equivalent to the on-campus tuition fee. Washington University tuition covers only the academic portion of the Washington, D.C. Programs, therefore, WUSTL student health insurance and housing are billed as additional and separate items on your WUSTL account.
Once accepted into the Washington, D.C. Programs, students will be issued a WUSTL program agreement. The agreement will provide clarification of what will be billed to the WUSTL student account and the amount of each charge.
Airfare, local travel, food, incidental housing fees, athletic facilities, internet access and miscellaneous personal expenses are not included in the program price. Any such fee paid by the university on a student’s behalf will be billed to their WUSTL account as a miscellaneous fee.
The tuition fee, health insurance and other appropriate charges, if any, will be posted to your student account. Financial assistance and other credits will be applied to this account in the usual manner. Participants in the Washington, D.C. Programs may be billed by the program sponsor, host institution and/or housing authority for additional legitimate charges. If so, charges should be directly paid by you in a timely manner, clearing the account before departure from the program site. Normally, a program transcript will not be issued by the program sponsor or host institution until the account has been cleared.
Please see the Withdrawal page.
As with all Washington University bills, failure to pay the charges for the Washington, D.C. Programs that have been correctly posted to a student account will result in a hold being placed on the account. This prevents future registration and precludes the issuance of transcripts until the account has been cleared. Late fees and other penalties may be applied. Similarly, a hold existing prior to departure will prevent registration for the Washington, D.C. Programs.
In addition to the program price, students should budget for travel expenses and normal academic and living expenses, such as books, public transportation, laundry and purchase or rental of a cell phone.
Students who receive financial assistance at Washington University in St. Louis may use their financial assistance award to participate in the Semester in Washington, D.C. Programs. Tuition for semester programs will be equal to the on-campus tuition price and will be posted to the student account, and the financial assistance award will be applied towards this amount.
Estimated expenses for a specific program will not include shopping, telephone calls, gifts and other optional expenses. Additional funds should be included in the personal budget for these expenses.
Summer Washington, D.C. Programs participants may request loans from the university to help cover the cost of the summer program. The Summer Financial Assistance Application is available at sfs.wustl.edu in mid-February each year. Charges for the summer program will be posted to your WUSTL student account, and the loan amount will be applied towards this amount. You will be billed for the resulting difference on the regular billing cycle.
Any Washington University-provided scholarship, federal grant, state grant or federal student loan in your financial assistance award will be applied to your student account provided that all documents requested by Student Financial Services have been completed.
In addition, a limited number of Federal Work-Study jobs may be available. To learn more about how to complete the necessary documentation for your financial assistance award, visit the Student Financial Services website.
You should contact any organizations from which you receive outside scholarships to verify that the scholarship awarded to you is eligible for participation in the Semester in Washington, D.C. Program. If you expect to receive a check from an outside organization while studying in D.C., you should complete a Specific Power of Attorney form to allow Washington University to apply the scholarship check to your student account.
Contact Student Financial Services to learn more about how to complete the Power of Attorney form.
Depending on your financial assistance award and other credits on your student account, a refund may be due to you while you are studying in Washington, D.C. Direct deposit of any resulting refunds into your United States checking or savings account is available. To learn more about this option, please contact the Office of Student Accounting.
Students whose parents participate in the PEP program, TuitionPay Monthly Plan or whose parents receive the Employee Child Scholarship benefit from Washington University may use these funds to study in Washington, D.C.
For more information regarding WUSTL’s financial assistance policies and procedures, contact:
Student Financial Services
North Brookings Hall, Room 75
(888) 547-6670
(314) 935-5900
Student Handbooks
Please take time to read the handbook carefully for more information and necessary paperwork before leaving for Washington, D.C.