FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, please click on the "Contact" link at the top of this page to send an e-mail message. Our staff will respond to inquiries as soon as possible.

Student Account Statements are issued every month and are typically due on the 22nd of every month (except for the first statement of the semester, please review your statement for the due date). No paper statements will be mailed. Students and Authorized Payers will receive an email when the statement is ready to view and pay.

Charges billed and unpaid by the due date will be subject to a late fee of 1.5%. There will also be a financial hold placed on the student account preventing enrollment in future courses, and delivery of the diploma (if graduating) until the past due balance is paid.  Please be advised that payments made online via LionPATH (students) or CASHNet (Authorized Payers) are posted immediately to the student account. Mailed payments may take up to 7-10 business days to be received and posted to the student account. 

Authorized Payers can reset a password by following the steps below:

• Navigate to public.lionpath.psu.edu and click "Login" in the Authorized Payer section.
• Enter your authorized user ID and click on "Forgot Password"
• Enter the email address associated with your Authorized Payer access, and click "Continue"
• Your user name, a temporary password, and a link to log in will be emailed to you. When you log in, you will be prompted to change your password.
• If you are unsuccessful, your student will need to reset your Authorized Payer password.

Steps for students to reset the Authorized Payer password:

• Log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
• Click on "My Finances" on top of the page
• Select “Manage My Account/ Make A Payment” to get to your Student Account Dashboard
• Once on your Student Account Dashboard, click on your name, and then in the “Payers” section of the page, click on the pencil icon next to the name of the Authorized Payer
• You will see the Authorized Payer name and email address, and payer access. Verify that the email address is correct.
• Click "Resend payer invitation" to generate a new email invitation with a temporary password

Penn State issues monthly student account statements. Your student account statement reflects the  anticipated aid information that is available at the time of billing.

To view up-to-date anticipated aid, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on "My Finances" on top of the page
3. Select "Manage My Account/Make A Payment" to go to your Student Account Dashboard
4. Click on "Activity Details" on the left side menu to view each anticipated aid source 

Once a student account statement is issued it is static. Any activity occurring after the student account statement is issued will appear on the "Account Details" and will be listed on the next student account statement.

Please note: the awarding and disbursement of financial aid is managed by the Office of Student Aid. To submit an email inquiry to the Office of Student Aid, go to: https://studentaid.psu.edu/resources/contact-us. 

If you haven't paid your balance for a prior semester follow these steps to view the balance you owe:

1. Log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on “My Finances” on top of the page
3. Select “Manage My Account/ Make A Payment” to get to your Student Account Dashboard
4. Click on the link  "Make Payment" to view the balance you owe

Federal regulations state that financial aid for a future semester cannot be used to pay a prior semester balance. Even if you are expecting a refund for spring semester, you need to pay the outstanding prior balance from the prior semester.

To view your prior semester balance owed, log in to your Student Account Dashboard by following these steps:

1. Log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on “My Finances” on top of the page
3. Select “Manage My Account/ Make A Payment” to get to your Student Account Dashboard
4. Click on the "Make a Payment" link

If you have more than one student at Penn State, regardless of campus, you can easily link your students' accounts. However, each student will need to create a separate Payer Invitation for you, and you will receive separate temporary passwords for each student.

We recommend that you log in to each student account separately prior to linking the accounts. To link multiple student accounts:

1. Make sure that your pop-up blockers are disabled. LionPATH uses pop-up functionality
2. Go to https://public.lionpath.psu.edu/, then select "Authorized Payer Access".
3. Click on the "Authorized Payer Login" button, then use your Authorized Payer User ID and password provided for one of your student's accounts.
4. Once on the Student Account Dashboard scroll down the page and click on “Link to another student”
5. Enter the “User name” and “Password” that you use to sign into another student’s account and click “Continue”
6. You will see a pop-up message that you have successfully linked another student
7. When you want to view, add, or remove another student, select the pencil icon to the right of the student’s name on the overview page. 

The Greek Membership Fee provides enhanced support to the University's Greek-letter community.  The fee for IFC or Panhellenic chapter members is $90 per semester. For Multicultural Greek Council or National Pan-Hellenic Council members, the fee is $30 per semester. Students will see the fee listed on their account statement every semester that they continue membership in a Greek organization. If you who have questions about the fee, please contact the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life at 814-863-8065 or [email protected].

For more information, click here.

The Board of Trustees approves the tuition rates and mandatory fees for the academic year in mid-July.  The Office of the Bursar issues the first fall semester billing the first week of August. The due date is indicated on the billing statement. Students and Authorized Payers will receive an email when the student account billing statement is ready to view/pay.

For more information go to: https://bursar.psu.edu/tuition-due-dates.  

The link to enroll in the Installment Payment Plan will be available once the first billing statement of the semester is issued (January for spring, May for summer, and August for fall). The student and any authorized payers on the account will receive an email when the statement is ready to view/pay. 

Once the link to enroll in the Installment Payment Plan is available, you can follow these steps:

  Students:

1. Log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on "My Finances" on top of the page
3. Select "Manage My Account/Make A Payment" to get to your Student Account Dashboard
4. Click on “Payment Plans” on the left side menu and click on “View payment plan options”
5. Follow the instructions to enroll in the Installment Payment Plan

If you are unable to access the Student Account Dashboard through the link “Manage My Account/Make A Payment” in LionPATH, please make sure your pop-up blockers have been disabled.

Authorized Payers:

1. Log in to the Student Account
2. Once on the Student Account Dashboard, click on the “Payment Plans” on the left side menu and click on “View payment plan options”.

For more information regarding the Installment Payment Plan, please go to: https://bursar.psu.edu/payment-options

The student account statement is prepared with the billing and financial aid information available at the time the statement is prepared. For questions about the status of a graduate assistantship/fellowship, please contact your department. 

Yes, you can still use Flywire to make your payment. Make sure to include the loan borrower as the sender in this case. After making your payment request, you will be provided with a disbursement or authorization letter along with the bank instructions from your Flywire dashboard. The authorization letter will demonstrate that Flywire is acting as the only and official authorized international payment processor and the end recipient of your payment is your institution. You should provide your bank with both documents in order to complete the bank transfer.

For additional information, please go to: https://www.flywire.com/support/india/

International students and students in the College of Medicine are required to have adequate health insurance coverage while enrolled at Penn State. These students must provide proof of health insurance coverage that meets certain criteria or purchase the Penn State Student Health Insurance Plan (“SHIP”).

Please note, Penn State has adjusted the billing process for international students for 2019. Beginning in fall 2019, international students will see their insurance premium added to their student bursar account.

If you have any questions about Penn State SHIP, please contact the Student Health Insurance Office at [email protected] or by phone at 814-865-7467, option 1.

For additional information about health insurance requirements and the Penn State SHIP, including rates and deadlines go to: Health Insurance | Penn State Student Affairs (psu.edu)

We understand that in some situations two people would like to split the balance for a single student and each be on an installment payment plan to do so. However, our system is designed to accommodate only one payment plan per student per semester. Either the student or an Authorized Payer on the student account can sign up for the Installment Payment Plan each semester. 

For more information about Penn State's Installment Payment Plan, please go to: https://bursar.psu.edu/payment-options#Installment%20Payment%20Plan  

Our office enters awards as promptly as possible and in the order received. Please monitor your student account frequently.  Your student account and billing statement will reflect the award once the funds have been received and processed by our office. Due to heavy volume during the months of July, August, November, and December, it can take a few weeks for the award to appear on your billing statement. The earlier you submit checks, the more likely your award will be reflected on your initial tuition bill.  Please note that external awards do not appear as anticipated aid.

Please go to https://bursar.psu.edu/external-awards for additional information on external awards.

University Health Services (UHS) submits patients' bills to their insurance companies. If UHS is in-network with your plan, UHS will accept what your insurance company pays and only charge you for co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles. If your insurance company does not cover a service, you may be liable for that portion of the bill also.  If UHS is out-of-network with your insurance company you may be responsible for the entire amount of the bill.

 Please note, the date of the charge on the student account is not the same date when the service was received. The date on the student account is when the UHS charge posted to the student account after the health service received has gone through the billing process indicated above with an insurance company, and/or when the charge is posted to the student account by UHS. To view details on the services received and the exact date, log in to view/print your bill from myUHS at: https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/health/myuhs

 Based on confidentiality of student records, the Office of the Bursar has no specific information about student health service charges. If you have a question about health service charges, please call University Health Services at 814-865-3465, option 3.

 For more information on billing of medical services, please go to: https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/health-wellness/healthcare-and-medical-services/policies-patient-resources/billing-medical-services

All registered students who attend PSU are eligible to purchase books at a PSU bookstore/PSU Bookstore online** and have the option to add the bookstore charges to their Penn State student account. Your Penn State ID is required at the time of purchase.

** Penn State World Campus students can purchase course materials at any PSU bookstore and add the charges to their PSU student account. Please note, purchases made at MBS Direct/Barnes and Noble will continue to be paid at the point of sale, rather than via the student's PSU student account. Penn State World Campus students may purchase course materials from MBS Direct/Barnes and Noble or from other vendors. For more information, please visit the Penn State World Campus student website.

For additional information, please go to: https://www.bursar.psu.edu/psu-bookstore-purchases

If you are planning on using Pennsylvania 529 GSP funds, please follow the steps below:

Student Instructions

1. After you receive an e-mail notification that your billing statement is available, log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on "My Finances" on top of the page
3. Select "Manage My Account/Make A Payment" to get to your Student Account Dashboard
4. Select "Statements" on the left side menu
5. Click “Save” to download and save a PDF copy of the Billing Statement for the account owner to submit with the Payment Authorization Form(PAF)or with an online qualified withdrawal.

The PA 529 GSP payment, as well as any additional personal payment being made by other means, must be received by the statement due date in order to avoid any late fees.

Account owner instructions

1. Complete the Payment Authorization Form (PAF) provided by PA 529 GSP or access your account online at www.pa529.com to print a PAF or complete a qualified withdrawal online.
2. If completing a qualified withdrawal online, upload an electronic copy of the billing statement(see #4 above).
3. If completing a paper PAF, mail or fax both the PAF and the copy of the billing statement to PA 529 GSP.

PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan
Processing Center
PO Box 55463
Boston, MA 02205
Fax: 617-559-2452

Please note: Penn State cannot request funds from a PA 529 GSP account on behalf of the account owner. Therefore, please DO NOT mail your PAF to Penn State.

PA 529 GSP mails PAFs in July or early August for the fall semester and in October for the spring semester. Summer PAFs are provided upon individual request. Additionally, a PAF can be obtained online at www.pa529.com or by calling 1-800-440-4000.

An e-mail message will be sent to the student's official University e-mail account when the Student Account Statement is available to view and/or pay on LionPATH.

If you are a current Penn State student, information can be found on the Account Services Web site at https://security.psu.edu/services/penn-state-accts/

Click here for instructions.

There is no charge to pay by eCheck. There is a 2%  convenience fee for each payment made by credit card.

Click here for instructions.

Online payments will be reflected immediately on your student account. However, it may take 1-7 business days before they are reflected in your bank account.

Please allow 7-10 business days for your payment to be received and posted to the student account.  We receive an extremely high volume of payments at the start of the semester. Additional processing time can be expected during this time. Please monitor your student account. 

If the check has cleared your bank account, please fax a copy of the front and back of your check to 814-865-2979. Please include the PSU ID and name of the student.

As a reminder, payments made online are posted immediately to the student account.

Please be advised, there are no due date extensions in LionPATH. If the payment is not received by the due date, you will be assessed a 1.5% late fee on the total outstanding balance due, as well as have a financial hold (negative service indicator) placed on your Student Account. This will restrict you from enrolling in future classes. Please be advised that it may take up to 7-10 business days for payments mailed to be received and posted to the student account.  However, payments made online are automatically posted to the student account.

Penn State made the decision to charge a 2% convenience fee to fairly distribute the costs of accepting online credit card payments to the users. These costs include the maintenance of secure payment servers, software, online user interface, integration costs and ongoing maintenance fees.  By charging this fee, these additional costs are being assessed to the users of this service, not to all Penn State students.  To avoid the fee, students and authorized payers can make payments by eCheck, check, or money order.

The Bursar's office uses secure web pages when displaying and collecting credit card information. All references to a credit card transaction are done using your Order ID number. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) software is used to provide data encryption of your personal information such as password and credit card number.

University Park does not accept cash payments. For security reasons, Penn State does not recommend to make cash payments. Commonwealth Campus students may pay with cash by visiting the Bursar/Finance office at their campus. Do not mail cash.

These instructions are for all 529 programs except the Pennsylvania Guaranteed Savings Plan. If you have a Pennsylvania Guaranteed Savings Plan 529, please see "How do I claim a PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan tuition payment?"

Student Instructions

1. After you receive an e-mail notification that your billing statement is available, log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on "My Finances" on top of the page
3. Select "Manage My Account/Make A Payment"
4. Select "View" or "Download" in the "Your Statements" section.
5. Print a copy of the billing statement to submit to your 529 plan if necessary. Print any additional copies of the billing statement if needed.

The 529 payment, as well as any additional personal payment being made by other means, must be received by the statement due date in order to avoid any late fees.

Penn State cannot request funds from a 529 plan on behalf of the account owner/student, Therefore, please DO NOT mail your Payment Authorization Form (PAF) or PAF copies to Penn State.

If you have a Texas Tomorrow, Michigan Education Trust (MET), College Illinois!, South Carolina Tuition Prepayment Program (SCTPP), Kentucky’s Affordable Prepaid Tuition (KAPT), or Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Program (PACT) plan, please select the "Contact Us" link to let us know about your expected 529 payment amount.

Your 529 payment(s) can be mailed to:

Penn State University
Office of the Bursar
103 Shields Building
University Park, PA 16802

This mailing address is also listed on your tuition bill as well as on our website at Bursar.psu.edu. Please include your Penn State Student ID number and your full name with your 529 payment(s).

Click here for instructions.

Yes, Penn State accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. There is a 2% convenience fee for each credit card online payment. We cannot accept credit cards by mail, phone, or in person. All payments are done online via LionPATH.

You can see other payment options available in our website.

This information can be found at the bottom of your paper check. You can view a sample check to see where to find these numbers.

We highly recommend that you contact your financial institution if you do not have a paper check or cannot locate this information. 

Yes, you will be assessed a $25 fee for each returned item. As a security measure, a failed payment attempt or attempts will result on the system placing an irrevocable negative service indicator on your student account, which will prevent you from using eCheck/check as payment option for the duration of your studies at Penn State. Penn State reserves the right to cancel a future semester enrollment due to a returned payment on the student account.

• Fast and convenient method of making payments.
• Payments are immediately reflected on the Student Account Statement.
• Money-saving process - you no longer need to write checks or pay for stamps to send a payment in the mail.

Payments can be made by electronic check (eCheck), credit card (a 2% convenience fee applies), or paper check. Payments made online by eCheck or credit card are immediately posted to the student account. Mailed payments can take between 5 and 10 days to be received and processed.  Cash payments are discouraged. Do not mail cash.

Click here to see available payment options.

Yes, click here to see details about Penn State's Installment Payment Plan.

You are not required to pay by credit card. You can pay by eCheck (no charge), paper check, or money order. University Park does not accept cash payments. For security reasons, Penn State discourages cash payments. 

To view a payment you made to your student account, follow these steps:

Students:

1. Log in to your Student Home Base in LionPATH
2. Click on “My Finances”  on top of the page
3. Select “Manage My Account/ Make A Payment” to get to your Student Account Dashboard
4. Click on “Activity Details” on the left side menu to see recent account activity since the prior billing statement
5. If you made a payment online, click on “Transactions” on the left side menu to see a list of payments

Authorized Payers:

1. Log in to the Student Account
2. Click on “Activity Details” on the left side menu to see recent account activity since the prior billing statement
3. If you made a payment online, click on “Transactions” on the left side menu to see a list of payments

Yes, you can make a partial payment to your student account, but if the total balance due is not paid by the due date, a 1.5% late fee will be assessed on the total balance due. Click here to all payment options. 

We encourage you to pay online with an eCheck. Online payments are posted to the student account immediately. However, if you want to mail your payment please follow these instructions:

 If mailing a check or money order, print a remittance stub from LionPATH and mail it with your check or money order made payable to Penn State to:

NEVER MAIL CASH