Student Accounts

Activities Fee - Student Senate allocates the funds to support student activities and organizations such as admission to intercollegiate and intramural athletic events; theatre, arts, and music department presentations; and other programs determined by the students.

Matriculation Fee - a one-time charge for new students.

*Includes an estimate of fee for student health insurance.

The Nursing Program fee is assessed to students in the traditional undergraduate program each semester beginning in the term after their acceptance.

Undergraduates - Payment of tuition, fees, and room and board charges, less applicable financial aid, is due and payable for each semester on or before the following dates (except for those participating in the MU Payment Plan):

• Fall Semester - August 1st
• Spring Semester - January 2nd

Graduate and MAP students - Payment in full must be made prior to the end of the term or session. Other payment arrangements must be approved in advance with the Business Office.

The student - undergraduate, graduate, MAP, other - is ultimately responsible for all charges incurred at the University. This includes those attending under an employment sponsorship or payment arrangement, regardless of changes in employment or the sponsorship.

A statement of the semester's charges will be sent to the student's billing (permanent) address in early May and early December. Monthly statements will be sent to the billing address containing any amount due for tuition charges and other miscellaneous fees which were added during the month. Any charge not included on the payment plan should be paid by the end of the month.

For your convenience we accept cash, personal checks (made payable to Muskingum University), Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. Payments can be made:

• Online
• from the "Students" page in MuskieLink
• in-person at the Business Office in Room 126 of Montgomery Hall
• by mail to:

  Muskingum University Business Office
  P.O. Box 2047
  Mt. Vernon, OH 43050-7247

  Please include the remittance from your statement or indicate the student's ID number when mailing payment.

• A charge of $30 will be made for returned checks. 

• Please contact the Business Office at 740-826-8111 for more information.

As an alternative to payment in full, parents or students may participate in the TuitionPay payment plan offered by Cashnet. This payment plan is designed for traditional undergraduates only. Graduate and MAP students should contact the Business Office to discuss a semester only plan. 

The plan is interest free (an annual enrollment fee of $140 is assessed) and allows payment to be spread out over the year through a 10, 11 or 12 month plan. Payment can be made via various methods including direct debit, online or by mailing in your payment. Spread your payments over the year, interest fee. You can enroll online

• Click on the wrench icon in the top right-hand side of your screen
• Click "MUSKIELINK," log in using your credentials
• Click "STUDENTS"
• Under "FINANCIAL INFORMATION," in the bottom, left-hand portion of your screen click "View Balance/Make Payment"

Financial aid is credited directly to a student’s account. The exceptions are earnings through the University Work Study Program, outside scholarships where the outside agencies award directly to recipients, and some student or parent loans. Estimated financial aid and loans are not credited until the funds are actually received by the University. Student Financial Services can answer questions about aid awards.

Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans are available to parents of students. Information is available at Student & Parent Loans.

Private Education Loans are also available to credit-worthy students or parents, as well as students with a credit-worthy co-signer with a variety of interest and payment options.  Information is available Student & Parent Loans.

It is important to remember that the ultimate responsibility for financial aid rests with the student. Many types of aid require additional information or documentation beyond the original acceptance. Until all of this information is completed, the aid will not be posted to the account. If the information is not completed within the term, the aid is forfeited in most cases and the balance due is then the student's responsibility. It is imperative that you read and respond to all requests from the Student Financial Services office. Some common steps required to complete an aid award are:

Verification - you may be requested to send in copies of tax returns for the student and/or parent. These must be a signed copy.

Loans - A more complete checklist for information is located at Student & Parent Loans 

• All loans are not credited to the student's account until the funds are received from the lender.
• The Federal Direct Loan requires a signed Master Promissory Note (MPN). Until the student signs the MPN the loan cannot be processed.
• Federal Direct PLUS loans are completed by the parent. If a parent is denied for a Federal Direct PLUS loan, the student may be eligible for an additional Federal Direct Loan. For the student to be eligible in any given year, the parent must apply each year.

Work Study

Earnings under the Work Study Program are paid to students by direct deposit or check on the 10th of each month.  Do not use work study earnings in calculating your balance owed.

Loan Disbursements

The Federal Direct Loan is normally disbursed in two installments, the first half for Fall semester, and the second half for Spring semester. Federal Direct Loans are disbursed directly to the University, as are most private loans. Any loans disbursed by checks must be endorsed by the student borrower before they can be applied to the student's account.

Accounts not paid with the payment schedule are subject to a monthly late payment fee (see above) within the term of enrollment.

Students whose accounts are delinquent will not be permitted to register for their courses, receive transcripts of their records, or participate in graduation.  A student who wishes to transfer credits to another institution must pay in full all indebtedness to Muskingum University before a transcript will be released.

Students whose accounts are delinquent after payment dates will be informed that their course registration and housing could be withdrawn for the upcoming semester.  Students whose accounts are brought current after these dates prior to registration day will be permitted to re-register for courses.  There is no guarantee that there will be space available in the classes or residence halls that were originally requested.

Accounts not paid within the term are assessed a finance charge of 1.0% per month on the outstanding balance after the completion of the term until the balance is paid in full.

The University reserves the right to assess collection costs and legal expenses on delinquent accounts.

The official University policy for any refund after a student withdraws or takes a leave of absence is included in the Academic Catalog for either the Undergraduate or Graduate and Continuing Studies (including MAP) programs.

Undergraduate program
Students withdrawing or taking a leave of absence prior to the beginning of an academic term, or during the add/drop period of that term will receive 100% refund of tuition, fees, and room charges (less deposit), and pro-rated board charges. An early withdrawal fee of $100.00 will be assessed.

Withdrawal/leave of absence after the add/drop period will receive a refund of tuition, fees, and room charges (less deposit) according to the following schedule:

Graduate and Continuing Studies program
Students who wish to drop a class may do so before or during the add/drop period. Those who drop classes prior to the end of the add/drop period receive a full refund for all dropped classes. Students who drop all classes prior to or during the add/drop period are considered to be not enrolled for the term (withdrawal). Any financial aid for which the student may have been eligible is returned to the respective program. For students who drop some, but not all, classes prior to or during the add/drop period, the enrollment status and subsequent financial aid eligibility are effective as of the end of the add/drop period. In all cases, the student is responsible for any balance due to the University.

For the Muskingum Adult Program (MAP), Students who wish to drop a class may do so anytime prior to the last day of class. Students who drop some or all classes following the end of the add/drop period are responsible for paying all tuition and fees for the courses. Students who drop all courses within a given term (withdrawal) are not necessarily considered by Muskingum University to be withdrawn from the program. Federal financial aid guidelines, however, consider such students to be withdrawn from the institution. Financial aid awarded to MAP students who withdraw from all classes after the end of the add/drop period, but prior to the completion of 60% of the session, will have their federal financial aid adjusted in accordance with federal regulations. Adjustments to financial aid are not required for students who withdraw after the end of the add/drop period from some, but not all, classes within the term. In all cases, MAP students are responsible for paying any balance due to the University.

IMPORTANT: Federal regulations require that students who did not attend class beyond certain periods of the term are considered - for terms of Federal aid - to have withdrawn from the term regardless of any official notice of withdrawal. University policy requires notice be provided for withdrawal after the drop/add period. Students who receive a grade of "F" (0.0 GPA for the term) and were determined to have not attended any class will have their aid recalculated as described above. Any balance returned to the Department of Education will be the responsibility of the student.

Board charges will be refunded based upon the following formula: (Number of weeks remaining in the term divided by the number of weeks in the term, rounded down to the nearest 10%) times (Plan board and charge for the term) = refund. A board week will be considered earned on each Monday’s reconciliation between Campus Services and Student Affairs.

Financial aid awards to students who withdraw after the beginning of a semester are recalculated on a basis consistent with written University and federal/state policies governing student financial aid in a withdrawal situation. If any portion of a student’s charges is to be refunded due to withdrawal, an adjustment must be made to the student’s financial aid, since the family contribution must be applied first toward applicable charges. In cases where financial aid awards must be adjusted, the proper amount of student aid is returned to the appropriate fund, or, in the case of Federal Direct Loans, to the lender. Federal Title IV funds are returned to their respective accounts in the following order: Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, Pell Grants and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. State grants are refunded in accordance with the guidelines of the specific state agency.

If the resultant calculation of charges and financial aid indicates a refund is due the student, the refund will be paid within a reasonable period of time through the refund disbursement process. If the calculations result in a balance due the University, payment to Muskingum University will be expected in a reasonable period of time.

(note that overload charges are not subject to refund unless part of a complete withdrawal or leave of absence from the University)