Over the past several weeks, the University has communicated about some of the fees or pre-paid costs that will be refunded to students and families due to the abbreviated residential experience on campus. We appreciate your patience as we implement these changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, we want to share an update of which refunds are available and what you can expect, as well as the services that are continuing to run despite students’ departure from campus.
Housing and dining fees
The University is reimbursing room and board charges on a pro-rated basis as of March 20 for students no longer on campus.
Dining Services is pro-rating refunds of meal plans and all remaining spring semester declining funds for all students not remaining on campus. URos funds will not be refunded but will remain in each student’s account for future use. URos can be used for other purchases, the bookstore online, in College Town, etc.
The Bursar’s Office is working to issue all housing and dining refunds. Each refund has to be processed individually, so it takes a little time, however the Bursar’s Office has enlisted additional help to complete this process as quickly as possible for students and families.
The April billing statement will reflect these adjustments. If a student is expecting a refund due to room and board adjustments, they should login to Blackboard and update their refund profile in UR ePAY under “Manage Refunds.” View step-by-step instructions. The refunds will be issued in the student’s name and will be via direct deposit, if the student has set this up as their refund preference. If not, the refund will be issued in a check and mailed to the student’s billing address.
One exception is if the charges were paid by a Federal Parent loan, in which case the refund would be issued to the parent in a check. If the charges were paid through a 529 Plan, the refund will be issued directly to the student, just as it would under any circumstances. Please contact the administrator of your 529 Plan directly for any tax questions.
Tuition and labs fees
Since classes and labs are continuing for the remainder of the semester via remote instruction, there will be no credits to student accounts related to spring 2020 tuition and lab charges.
Student health: Mandatory health fee and insurance fee
The mandatory health fee is designed to provide funding to cover a variety of services that are offered to students whether they are on campus or not. University Health Service is currently offering telemedicine appointments so that students can have a virtual visit with their physician or nurse practitioner from any location. The Counseling Center is also offering teletherapy sessions, and the UHS Health Promotion staff is supporting and promoting the Mindful University Programming.
Health Promotion Office Programs available online:
- UHS virtual programming, including yoga for athletes, eating mindfully, meditation and more
- Mindful University Programming
- UR Supported
The UR Student Health Insurance Plan (Aetna) is still available and providing health coverage regardless of a student’s location, including internationally. Student coverage is in effect until July 31, 2020.
Cap and gowns
The University is working with Oak Hall to process refunds for all of the pre-ordered caps and gowns. Also launching soon will be a website where students and parents can order items (regalia sets or individual souvenir caps, gowns, hoods, tassels, stoles, etc.) to ship direct.
University and student leaders are jointly planning how to celebrate Commencement 2020 in a new way given the absence of traditional ceremonies this spring.
Textbook returns
Students at the College who need to mail rented textbooks to the University’s Barnes & Noble bookstore can use this link to print a free domestic shipping label. Eastman School of Music students can use this link. Students must provide their own box or packaging. Those who obtained their books online will need their rental order ID, which is the web order number. Students should send all rentals back at a UPS drop-off location at the same time, as they can only print one label per order. Rentals are due back by May 8 for Eastman students and May 11 for College students. There is no international shipping solution at this time. Students returning books from outside the United States should mail them to the bookstore by the most practical and cost-effective method.
Other mandatory fees
Generally, there are no further adjustments or account credits for mandatory fees.
The undergraduate activities fee funds student event activities throughout the year such as Yellowjacket Day, the Winter Carnival, and Dandelion Day. It helps support undergraduate clubs and organizations, and it is used to sponsor outside speakers, and to subsidize the costs associated with running student facilities. Moving forward, this money is being utilized in offering the online activities and support services that are continuing for the remainder of the semester. Upcoming programming hosted by Wilson Commons Student Activities can be found at https://rochester.edu/college/wcsa.