Amended
2020-2021 University Fees
Carnegie Mellon University assesses several fees to most incoming and current students. A brief description of these fees are below, along with the cost per semester and assessment requirements. If a student takes a leave or withdrawal within the first ten class days (fifteen calendar days) of a semester, tuition and fees are fully refundable, as indicated on the tution adjustment schedule.
Student Activities Fee
| EXPLANATION OF FEE: | FALL 2020 COST: | SPRING 2021 COST: | MANDATORY FOR: |
| The student activities fee is used to cover student programming and events on campus. | Pittsburgh campus:
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Pittsburgh campus:
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All undergraduate, graduate, and incoming exchange students registered for 19 or more units studying in Pittsburgh, Qatar, Silicon Valley, Heinz College - LA, and Heinz College - DC. |
*Amended Activity Fee Rationale: While many student organization events will not be able to take place this fall, and there will be expected cost savings as a result, student organizations may continue to incur costs during the fall semester continuing their work and holding hybrid or virtual events that will be accessible to students on and off campus. The fee for the fall semester will be reduced in order to reflect this, while providing student organizations flexibility in planning for the spring semester.
**Amended Activity Fee Rationale: The Graduate Student Assembly will continue its on-campus and national advocacy efforts to serve and support the academic and professional experience for all graduate students at Carnegie Mellon, whether locally or abroad. The fee has been reduced after reevaluating funds for in-person Orientation programming and other large fall events/expenditures that are not going to require the normal funding capacity.
***Amended Activity Fee for Spring 2021: Given the ongoing global pandemic and rationale similar to fall 2020, student government bodies on the Pittsburgh campus voted to amend the activity fee for spring 2021.
Media Fee
| EXPLANATION OF FEE: | FALL 2020 COST: | SPRING 2021 COST: | MANDATORY FOR: |
| The media fee is assessed to undergraduate students only to support the newspaper program. | Pittsburgh campus:
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Pittsburgh campus:
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All undergraduate students studying in Pittsburgh. This includes incoming exchange students. |
*Amended Media Fee Rationale: Under the hybrid model planned for the fall 2020 semester, fewer students will be able to access newspapers on campus provided by the Collegiate Readership Program. Because it is possible to operate a scaled-down Collegiate Readership Program using reserve funds, there will not be a Media Fee assessed for the fall semester.
**Amended Media Fee for Spring 2021: Given the ongoing global pandemic and rationale similar to fall 2020, student government bodies on the Pittsburgh campus voted to amend the media fee for spring 2021.
Technology Fee
| EXPLANATION OF FEE: | 2020-21 COST PER SEMESTER: | MANDATORY FOR: |
| The technology fee is used to support information technology, software licensing, and the Andrew email system. | All student levels - $220* | All students, except for those studying in Adelaide, Australia. |
*The Technology Fee will be assessed at the regular rate to all enrolled students for 2020-2021 as technology services continue to be utilized.
Transportation Fee
| EXPLANATION OF FEE: | FALL 2020 COST: | SPRING 2021 COST: | MANDATORY FOR: |
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The transportation fee is used to support students' local transportation needs. In Pittsburgh, this provides students with unlimited access to the local Port Authority Transit (PAT) system as well as the Carnegie Mellon University Shuttle and Escort Service. |
Pittsburgh campus:*
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Pittsburgh campus:*
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All undergraduate, graduate, and incoming exchange students studying in Pittsburgh. |
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In Silicon Valley, this provides students with unlimited access to Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and light rail lines in Santa Clara County, as well as Cal Train passes. |
Silicon Valley Campus:*
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Silicon Valley Campus:*
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All undergraduate, graduate, and incoming exchange students studying in Silicon Valley. |
| In Washington DC, the WMATA's UPass program will provide MSPPM-DC track students with unlimited metro access during the academic year at a significantly reduced rate. | Heinz College in Washington**
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Heinz College in Washington**
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All Heinz students studying in Washington DC. |
*Pittsburgh & Silicon Valley Students: The Transportation Fee will be assessed at the regular rate for fall 2020 and spring 2021 to all students living locally (Pittsburgh area or Silicon Valley area), regardless of whether they live on-campus, off-campus independently or off-campus as a dependent.
**Heinz in Washington Students will only be charged the Transportation Fee in instances where a UPass has been specifically requested.
Orientation Fee
| EXPLANATION OF FEE: | FALL 2020 COST: | MANDATORY FOR: |
| The orientation fee is a one-time fee for all incoming freshmen and transfer students to cover orientation costs and programming. | Pittsburgh campus:
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All first-time undergraduate students. This includes incoming freshmen and transfer students. |
*Amended Orientation Fee Rationale: A comprehensive First-Year Orientation program will be delivered this fall in a hybrid mode so that all incoming students, regardless of location, will benefit from a robust program that supports their successful transition to CMU. The fee has been reduced given cost savings with the change in format.
