​Registration and Fee Payment

Registration and Fee Payment Policy | Registration and Fee Payment Procedure | Refund Policy | Payment Plans (Bursar site)


Registration and Fee Payment Policy

Class registration is not officially completed until all tuition and fees are paid, except for those students on the university's monthly installment plan. Reserved classes may be canceled by the university if students do not complete payment by the assigned dates. (See the academic calendar for specific dates.) There is a monthly late payment penalty of .833% (10% APR) charged to all students who do not complete registration fee payments by the deadlines. Accounts paid by checks that are returned uncollected by the bank are not considered paid. Credit cards are not accepted for tuition or fee payments.

Note: Students on the monthly installment plan must keep their payments current throughout the contract life. If payments are not current, the university reserves the right to cancel class reservations. If scheduled installment payments are not made by the assigned registration fee payment dates, students must pay a a monthly late payment penalty of .833% (10% APR).

Registration and Fee Payment Procedure

To register, students must do the following.

  • Register online via MySanDiego
  • Pay the required tuition and fees to the Student Accounts Office by the specified dates. Students using the monthly installment plan should follow the instructions outlined. Date, time and location requirements of registration fee payments are announced in advance.
  • Students expecting to receive Tuition Credit loans, Perkins loans or other student loans through the Financial Aid Office must make payment arrangements at the Student Accounts Office by the registration fee payment deadlines. Failure to do so subjects students to a $150 late registration fee.

University's Refund Policy

Withdrawal/ Leave of Absence

A graduate law student withdrawing from USD during a semester or for a future semester must file an official Student Withdrawal/Leave of Absence Form with the Records Office located in the law School. Reauthorization of the Higher Education Amendments, signed into law on October 7, 1998, resulted in a change in the federal regulations governing the refund or return of federal (Title IV) funds. When a student withdraws from USD, the withdrawal date used in determining the federal refund policy is the date: 1) the student files the Official Student Withdrawal/Leave of Absence form with the Records Office; 2) the student officially notifies in writing either of these respective offices of his/her intent to withdraw; or 3) the date the institution determines most accurately reflects when the student ceased academic attendance. In the third instance, circumstances beyond the student's control (e.g., illness) must have prevented him/her from beginning the official withdrawal process. The date the form/letter is received by the indicated office will constitute the official date. If the student leaves without beginning USD's official withdrawal process or otherwise providing official notification of his/her intent to withdraw, the withdrawal date will be the 50% point in the term. The date used to determine the return of federal funds may be different than the date used by USD to determine institutional refunds.

USD can grant a leave of absence for university purposes. However, any leave of absence longer than 180 days or where a terminated course must be retaken upon the student's return is not official for U.S. Department of Education purposes. Since this is the situation at USD, federal policies relating to Leaves of Absence do not apply and will be treated as withdrawals. The prescribed procedures for obtaining an academic leave of absence are available in the Records Office.

Refund Policy

  1. The refund of institutional charges is determined by the time frames and percentages indicated in the law school catalogs and student handbook or other official notification from the university;
  2. The refund of USD and other non-federal forms of financial aid will be determined by these same percentages. For example, if a student receives a 80% refund of USD charges, 80% of a USD grant would be removed from the student's account, leaving 20% of the USD grant to be applied to the student's remaining charges;
  3. The percent of return of federal (Title IV) funds will be determined not by these percentages but by the number of calendar days not completed within a semester (as determined by the withdrawal date indicated above), divided by the total number of calendar days within that semester. For example, if there were 100 calendar days in the semester (from the first day of class in the semester to the last day of finals) and the student withdrew on the 25th day, there would be 75 days not completed, resulting in 75% of Title IV funds being returned. For comparison, the USD institutional refund for this same period would be 70%;
  4. If no institutional charges are incurred (i.e., 100% refund), then all institutional and federal financial aid will be removed from the student's account and returned to their original sources.

Both USD and the student may be responsible for returning federal funds to their source. The student may also end up owing the University of San Diego for funds returned as a result of the return of Title IV funds. USD will return the lesser of the institutional charges times the percentage of unearned Title IV aid or the total Title IV aid disbursed (or could have been disbursed) times the percentage of unearned Title IV aid. The student would be responsible for returning the difference between what USD has returned and the total amount of unearned Title IV aid. In both instances, the funds must be Federal Direct Loan, Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Graduate Plus Loan and Federal Perkins Loan. While USD will return funds to the lender (in the case of loans), the student would be responsible to repay the portion of the loans due according to the terms of the loan. Students who withdraw during the refund period will generally be required to return money to the lender or repay the university.

Refund Schedule

Fees and deposits are not refundable, except as expressly stated.

Tuition is fully or partially refundable only when students officially withdraw by presenting withdrawal forms to the Records Office.

The following refund schedule applies to the regular academic semester sessions.

  • 100%* for withdrawal during the first week of classes.
  • 90% for withdrawal during the second week of classes.
  • 80% for withdrawal during the third week of classes.
  • 70% for withdrawal during the fourth week of classes.
  • 60% for withdrawal during the fifth and sixth weeks of classes.
  • 50% for withdrawal during the seventh week of classes.
  • 40% for withdrawal during the eighth week of classes.
  • NO REFUND of tuition will be made for withdrawal after the eighth week of classes.

The following refund schedule applies to the seven-week summer sessions.

  • 100%* for withdrawal through day two of the term.
  • 90% for withdrawal through day five of the term.
  • 80% for withdrawal through day seven of the term.
  • 70% for withdrawal through day nine of the term.
  • 60% for withdrawal through day 14 of the term.
  • 50% for withdrawal through day 16 of the term.
  • 40% for withdrawal through day 18 of the term.
  • NO REFUND of tuition will be made for withdrawal after day 18 of the term.

*For evening classes, this refund will be made for class withdrawal by noon of the day following the first class meeting.

For the full tuition, fees and refund policies of the USD School of Law International Summer Law Programs, please the study abroad web page.