As exchange students you do not pay academic fees (tuition), but you will be charged other non-academic fees. The estimated total for your fees is around $1,900 per semester—this includes the fee for health insurance, the bus fee, recreational fee, and student union facility fee. If you live on campus and/or purchase a meal plan, the amount will be greater, to cover housing and dining costs.
When you start to register for courses, the fees you’ll owe will be posted to your “statement of account,” which is accessible through your Student Center on Buckeyelink. The fee payment deadline for Autumn Semester 2020 is Tuesday, August 18. If you pay after this date you will be charged late fees.
One thing to be aware of is that academic (“instructional” and “non-resident”) fees may initially show on your account, but I will work with our fiscal office to have these removed before the payment deadline. Be sure not to make any payments until these academic fees are no longer showing.
There are three payment method options:
- electronic payment (online payment from a U.S. checking or savings account)
- credit card (Discover, Master Card, VISA and American Express only)
- wire transfer of foreign currency
It is highly recommended that you pay through the first method, electronic payment. To do so, you must first set up a U.S. bank account upon arrival.
For further details on these methods of payment, I highly recommend reading through this page of the Bursar’s website. The Bursar is the university office that handles fee payment; if you ever have questions you can e-mail their staff at bursar@osu.edu.
You also have the option of enrolling the Tuition Option Payment Plan (TOPP), which allows you to spread out your fee payment over the course of the semester. For more information, see the TOPP information on the Bursar’s website.
Financial Responsibility Statement
All students are required to completed the “financial responsibility statement,” confirming you agree to pay any charges on your student account associated with being an Ohio State student. For exchange students this doesn’t include tuition, but does include non-academic fees.
To complete the FRS, go to Buckeyelink, and under “My To-Do List” you will see a link for “Financial Responsibility Statement.” You will have to log in, then you can check the appropriate box to complete the requirement. You cannot register for courses until you have done so.
Photo credit: Bob Marquart (flikr username)