Tuition Information

The University Board of Trustees reviews and approves new rates annually in January for the next academic year. In most cases, there is a small increase in tuition rates each year. All tuition rates are subject to change without notice.

How Are Tuition Rates Determined?

A student’s tuition rate is determined by several factors. These include the student’s level, primary curriculum, residency status, admit term, and billing hours.

Student Level

Tuition rates vary based on the student’s level of study. Student levels include:

Undergraduate
Graduate
Law
Medicine
Veterinary Medicine

Curriculum

Students are charged tuition based on their primary academic program or curriculum.

All students are charged tuition based on their primary academic program.
- Campus Based Program – A program that requires students to be physically located on campus to attend courses in person. While students may choose to take some courses online, they will be charged tuition and fees according to the Campus-Based Tuition Rates.
- Fully Online Program – A program that allows students to complete all coursework remotely, without being physically located on campus. Students enrolled in a fully online program will be charged tuition and fees according to the Online Program Rates.
Tuition Differential – Some programs have an additional tuition differential, which means students in those programs will be charged an amount in addition to the base tuition rate.

Example:
An Undergraduate International student in Grainger Engineering or Engineering Related Programs will be charged ALL the following tuition categories:

Base Tuition
Engineering Differential Tuition
Non-Resident Base Tuition
Non-Resident Engineering Differential Tuition
International Base Tuition
International Engineering Differential Tuition

Residency Status

A student’s tuition rate also depends on their residency status.

Resident – A student who meets the university’s requirements for Illinois state residency.
Non-Resident – A student with a domestic citizenship who does not meet the university’s requirements for Illinois state residency.
International – A student who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and does not meet the university’s requirements for Illinois state residency.

Residency status is determined at the time of admissions by one of the university admissions offices. Residency status is based on information provided on the admissions application and other credentials.

Students whose residency circumstances have changed since they were admitted to the university may request a review of their residency status. Detailed information about residency requirements and the review process is available on the Changing Your Demographics webpage.

Admit Term

The term in which a student is admitted to the university can affect the tuition rate.

Undergraduate students:
Tuition rate is determined based on the student’s entering cohort. Undergraduate students in a bachelor’s degree program pay a fixed tuition rate that does not change for four consecutive years, per the Undergraduate Guaranteed Tuition Program. Unless the student changes their primary program to a program that has a different tuition rate.

Graduate students:
Most graduate programs have tuition increases each year, regardless of when a student began their program. There is no guaranteed tuition program for graduate students. Therefore, a graduate student’s tuition rate may increase from one academic year to the next.

Billing Hours

Tuition is calculated using billing hours, rather than the number of credit hours for which a student is enrolled.

Students are charged based on their billing hours.
Dropping a class after that posted deadline will not reduce billing hours.
Students cannot “swap” courses. Dropping a full semester class after that deadline and adding a POT B class will increase your billing hours.

Programs generally use one of two methods to calculate tuition:

Billing Hour Range
Some programs charge tuition and fees based on a billing hour range. Students pay a flat tuition amount based on the range that corresponds to their billing hours. During the summer, tuition is assessed per credit hour for most programs.

Fall & Spring Billing Hour Ranges

Range I: 12 or more hours
Range II: 6.00 – 11.99 hours
Range III: 1.00 – 5.99 hours
Range IV: 0.00 – 0.99 hours

Per-Credit-Hour Billing
Some programs charge tuition and fees based on a per-credit-hour rate.

The tuition charge is calculated by multiplying the student’s total billing hours by the applicable per-credit-hour tuition rate for their primary program. **Students in zero hours are charged for one billing hour.

Example:
If a student has 12 billing hours and the applicable tuition rate is $500 per billing hour:
12 billing hours × $500 = $6,000 tuition

Employer Reimbursement Request

If you need an official letter for tuition reimbursement from your employer, please complete an Itemized Tuition and Fees Request. Please note, we do not verify any payments the student has made to their student account or grade information.