Student Accounts/PaymentsCenter for International and Cultural Education

You may have questions about making payments for your first semester at Gustavus, and the logistics and timing of that.

Student Accounts handles everything related to your bill and payments. Go to Student Accounts for details about costs and payment options. Payment for the year is divided between fall semester and spring semester. If you have questions about your account, you can e-mail studentaccts@gustavus.edu or call 507-933-6244. 

Account Statements

Student Accounts will enter the charges for tuition, fees, room, meal, and health insurance to your account statement. You can access your account statement on MyGustavus. Your account statement may not be updated until mid to late July. Gustavus Student Accounts will mail the account statement to students with U.S. addresses and e-mail the account statement to students who do not live in the U.S. After your first semester, you will be responsible for getting your account statement through MyGustavus. Go to the Student Accounts website to see the amounts for tuition, room, meals, and fees. Go to the Health Service website for information about health insurance. The costs for books and personal expenses vary for each student and will not be reflected on your account statement, unless you charge books or other items to your student account.

MyGustavus

You should have received an e-mail to your Gustavus e-mail address about your MyGustavus account and how to log in. Please contact the Technology Helpline (helpline@gustavus.edu or 507-933-6111) if you need help or have questions about activating your MyGustavus account. MyGustavus has a “Parent Portal” where students can grant access to parts of their MyGustavus account to parents or other individuals. You can do that on MyGustavus.

CLICK TO VISIT MYGUSTAVUS

How to Pay

Go to Student Accounts for details about costs and payment options and to the Student Account Center portal to view your student account, make payments, and sign up for payment plans. Students can give parents access to the Student Account Center portal.

Flywire is a good payment option for many international students. Gustavus partners with Flywire to make international tuition payments easier and to help save on bank fees and unfavorable exchange rates. Flywirehas customer service available in multiple languages, by Skype, e-mail or phone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You may go to the Flywire website to learn more about their services. You may see what the exchange rate would be, before committing to making a payment or using Flywire.

Other Payment Options

You may also pay by wire, credit card, check, cash or money order. Payment with a credit card is usually not the best option, because there is an additional 2.75% convenience fee. Some students choose to wire payment to Gustavus without using Flywire. If that is the best option for you, contact Student Accounts or Jeff Anderson for wiring instructions. Those wiring instructions sometimes do not fit exactly with the forms used by your local bank, so it can be tricky and take more time. That is one reason we recommend Flywire, though other options may work better for you.

Banking

You will have an opportunity during international student orientation to open a local bank account. Most students choose a free checking account. The banks in Saint Peter are: First National Bank of MinnesotaNicollet County Bank, HomeTown Bank, and CCFBank. You may open an account at one of those local banks, or a bank that is not in Saint Peter, or you may choose not to open a bank account. Some students open a bank account, wire funds to that bank account or deposit a check in that bank account, and them make their payment to Gustavus from that account.

Financial Aid

The Gustavus Financial Aid Office handles everything related to financial aid. If you have questions about your financial aid, you can for to the Financial Aid Office website or e-mail finaid@gustavus.edu or call 507-933-7527. If you have been awarded a Gustavus scholarship or student employment, the amount of that financial aid award should have been indicated in the information you received regarding your admission to Gustavus. International student financial aid awards renew automatically each year, for four years. The amount of financial aid does not increase, even when the cost of attendance increases. International students do not complete the FAFSA and are not eligible for federal financial aid, so some of the information on our website related to financial aid is not applicable to international students. Your account statement should show the amount of your scholarship, but not the amount of your student employment.

Fall Semester Payment

Your account statement will indicate that payment for fall semester is due on August 31. You will be billed for ½ of tuition, ½ of room, ½ of the meal plan and all of the fees (new student fee, transcript fee, student government fee), and for health insurance for the full year. There will be a credit for ½ of your scholarship and the enrollment deposit that you paid.

Spring Semester Payment

Your account statement will indicate that payment for spring semester is due on January 31. You will be billed for ½ of tuition, ½ of room, and ½ of the meal plan. There will be a credit for ½ of your scholarship.

International Student Payments

If needed, the Gustavus Office of Student Accounts will allow one extra month for international student payments, because it can be harder to send payments from abroad. If you need that additional time, please e-mail the Student Accounts Office at studentaccts@gustavus.edu to let them know.

Student Employment

Not everyone has student employment as part of their financial aid. If you do, and you would like to work on campus, then you should go to the Enrollment Checklist and complete the Student Employment Application. Students are paid directly each month according to the number of hours worked. There is a maximum amount that you can earn from student employment each academic year. That maximum amount is specified in your financial aid award. If you choose to work less than that maximum amount, it is okay. The amount of your student employment award will not show on your account statement. The payments for your work will not go into your student account. You can decide what to do with the money that you earn from student employment. Some students use that money to help pay for their living expenses and other students save it to help pay for their next semester. Most students complete a Direct Deposit Authorization form so that their student employment payments are automatically deposited in their local bank account. The Enrollment Checklist indicates that you should complete that Direct Deposit Authorization form by July 1, but you will not be able to complete that, unless you already have a U.S. bank account. If is okay if you do not. You may complete that after you are here and after you have opened a bank account. Some students choose to work at Gustavus during the summer break. You may do that, and whatever you earn in the summer will not count towards the maximum amount that you can earn from student employment during the academic year.

If you live in a residence hall that costs more than the standard residence halls, there is an additional cost. The three first year residence halls are all the standard cost ($6,300).

Meal Plan Options

You may choose your meal plan option from the Enrollment Checklist. If you do not choose, you will automatically be enrolled in and billed for meal plan option 1, which is the least expensive option. If you choose meal plan option 2 or option 3, you will be charged for that amount. You may change to a larger or smaller meal plan at any point during the semester. You may go to the Dining Service website for more information.

Residence Hall Options

When you complete the housing form on the Enrollment Checklist, you can express your residence hall prefence. Please note that some residence halls cost more than others. You may click on housing rates to see the cost for each residence hall. First year degree students normally live in Norelius, Pittman or Sohre hall, which are the standard housing rate. Exchange students may live in a residence hall that costs more. If the cost is a significant factor, you should consider that as you rank your residence hall preferences, and may indicate that in the "additional factors to be considered" section of the housing form, so our Residential Life Office will consider that when making placements. Gustavus is a residential college, which means that students are required to live on campus, except for some rare exceptions for which most first year students do not qualify.

The amounts indicated on the Gustavus website or on your account statement may vary slightly from the amounts indicated on your Form I-20 or Form DS-2019, which are an estimate.