Spring 2020 Student Fee Refunds

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered the way UCI has operated. In response to county and state health directives to shelter in place and observe physical distancing guidelines, UCI shifted to remote instruction – beginning with the Spring 2020 quarter – and canceled or altered other important gatherings, such as campus and athletic events and commencement ceremonies.

On June 29, 2020, then-UC President Janet Napolitano directed all UC campuses to analyze Spring 2020 campus-based fees and, where appropriate and feasible, issue refunds or their equivalents, consistent with a set of guiding principles. UCI initiated an intricate, comprehensive and thorough review all of its campus-based fees to determine if refunds should be issued.

For the Spring 2020 quarter.

UCI followed the process detailed in the Guiding Principles from President Napolitano’s June 29, 2020 letter.  UCI is taking the positive net balance from campus-based fees for the 2020 fiscal year and – after excluding long-term expenditures and historical reserves – is basing the refund amount upon that. More than $1.6 million is being returned.

Undergraduates: $51.64

Graduate students (other than medicine and business): $23.28

Graduate students – medicine: $33.81

Graduate students – business: $23.91

Graduate students do not pay for all the fees that undergraduates do.  Supplemental fees for graduate students in business and medicine are reflected in their refund amounts.

Students whose CBFs were 100% waived or who received a 100% withdrawal credit will not be eligible for the refund.

Refunds were computed based on the Guiding Principles set out in President Napolitano’s June 29, 2020 letter.  The process revealed that a number of campus-based fees were directed to long-term, ongoing expenditures and to services that were provided remotely.  Accounting for historical reserves, this resulted in relatively modest refund amounts.

UCI is currently processing these refunds, but it will take some time to complete the process for all students.  Students will receive the refund though a credit posted on their student account. The credit will first apply to any outstanding balance. If the student has no outstanding balance, the credit will be refunded via direct deposit to their bank account, if that information still is valid. If no valid bank account is found, students will be issued checks that will be mailed to the student’s address on file.

For more information, contact:
Campus Billing and Collections
Phone: 949-824-2455 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
Email: cbs@uci.edu