Study Abroad

Cost, Fees & Billing

Investing in Global Education

As with any investment, you should aim to understand the costs of study abroad. Costs associated with studying abroad include tuition, fees, accommodations, transportation, and travel expenses. Please note that cost of attendance can vary greatly among programs depending on the program type, location, and length.

To better understand how the cost of studying abroad compares to the cost of studying at UMD, you can use the cost of attendance comparison worksheet. As always, your Global Learning Advisor is available to help you complete this worksheet and find affordable programs that fit your study abroad goals.

Costs of Studying Abroad

All program types have the below costs associated.

As part of your application, you will submit a $25 fee paid through your MyEA account.

The Education Abroad fee (EA Fee) is a non-refundable administrative fee charged to all study abroad students once they are committed to a program. This fee covers the salaries of EA staff as well as all costs related to the operations of the Education Abroad office. This fee varies depending on the term(s) you study abroad and is billed to your student account

$700 summer, winter, spring break
$1,750 semester
$2,250 academic year

All students who study abroad through the Education Abroad office are enrolled by EA in our mandatory international health insurance. The premium is charged to student accounts approximately one month before departure. Below are estimates of insurance costs - exact costs vary by program length and location.

~$32 spring break
~$50 summer & winter
~$300- semester programs up to 5 months
~$600- year programs up to 10 months

These are expenses you may incur as part of your study abroad program, but are not billed to your student billing account. EA estimates how much you may spend out of pocket depending on program length and location, but amounts will vary greatly depending on your personal spending habits. Examples of out of pocket expenses include:

Passport and visa fees
Roundtrip airfare
Books and class materials
Course fees
Personal expenses (entertainment, personal travel, etc.)
Meals not included in program fee

Program Specific Expenses

Study abroad costs vary based on the type of program you attend. All programs have an associated program fee, but what is included and how you will be billed for the costs can be viewed below.

UMD students participating in an Exchange program have the benefit of paying UMD full time tuition rates to attend an institution abroad. In-state students will continue to pay the in-state rate, and out-of-state students will continue to pay the out-of-state rate.

Housing costs for Exchange programs will be paid out of pocket directly to the housing provider.

Please see the below Cost of Attendance Chart to compare your cost of attendance at UMD versus a semester abroad on an Exchange program.

Cost of Attendance Chart

Program Fee
- Maryland-in program fees are charged to UMD student billing accounts
- Program fees include tuition, fees, on-site support, pre-departure and on-site orientation. Please note that the Program Fee is charged in place of UMD standard tuition.
- Some course related activities and materials may be included. Please see the cost sheet of the specific program for complete details
Housing
- Housing arranged by UMD will be billed to student accounts. All other housing/lodging arrangements will be paid out of pocket.

Affiliate programs represent providers with whom UMD has a formal billing agreement. While the program fees are set by the provider, students will have their program fee charged to their UMD student billing account. Once Education Abroad is invoiced for the program costs by the provider, we then pass the charge on to the student's billing account.

Billing for Affiliate programs may not follow the standard UMD billing timeline due to variations in invoicing. In addition to the program fee, students may also be responsible for paying the provider directly for certain items such as:

Provider/host application fee
Program or housing deposit
Housing not included in program fee

Most expenses for Other Approved Programs will be paid out of pocket directly to the third party provider or to the host institution. These costs vary depending on the program destination and may need to be paid before financial aid is disbursed.

Out of pocket expenses could include:
- Provider/host application fee
- Program deposit
- Tuition and student fees
- Housing

Program Fee
- Maryland-led program fees are charged to student accounts.
- Includes tuition for UMD course, housing, fees, instructional costs, as well as some in-country transportation, course related activities, and group meals.
- Please see the cost sheet of the specific program for complete details of billable costs.

Billing

Fees from Education Abroad charged directly to your student account will follow standard UMD billing timelines unless otherwise stated.

The chart below indicates the general billing timeline for program fees and the EA fee:

Term	Program Fee Billed	Program Fee Bill Due	EA Fee Billed	EA Fee Bill Due
Fall and Full Year	July 25	August 20	First week of June	July 20
Winter	November 25	December 20	First week of November	December 20
Spring and Spring Break	December 25	January 20	First week of November	December 20
Summer I	May 25	June 20	First week of April	May 20

Paying for Study Abroad

Paying your bill for study abroad is very similar to how you would usually pay your bill if you were studying on campus in College Park. Financial aid, tuition remission, scholarships, 529 plans, and the Terp Payment Plan can also be used depending on your program type. For a full explanation of using your current funding abroad, visit our Financial Aid page.

New: Use the Spring Terp Payment Plan for Winter Study Abroad Costs

Students participating in a winter term Education Abroad program may now include those program fees within the Spring Terp Payment Plan (TPP). This allows a spread of payments across the spring semester up through April, providing extra time to budget the cost of the experience.

To be eligible, you must:

Be registered for spring semester classes following your winter study abroad program.
Have no financial holds on your student account.
Enroll in the Spring TPP for your spring term specific charges, then add your Winter Education Abroad costs to be included in the plan.
Complete the official TPP enrollment, including the 25% down payment at sign-up.

Enrollment timing:

The Spring TPP opens in early December and remains available to include Education Abroad expenses through January 19.
Enrollment must be completed prior to your Winter term bill due date of January 20.

Learn more and enroll in the Terp Payment Plan at: billpay.umd.edu/TPP

Federal Aid such as Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, Perkins Loans, PLUS Loans, and SEOG grants can be used towards your study abroad program fees. Some Maryland state aid may also be used to study abroad, but is program specific.

UMD-specific financial aid for in-state students such as Terrapin Commitment and UMD Grants may be used towards study abroad costs during Fall and Spring terms, but the amount of these awards will not be adjusted to cover study abroad costs over standard UMD tuition.

Merit and need-based scholarships funded by UMD or academic departments can be used towards study abroad program costs billed to your student account. These scholarships may include Banneker/Key, President's, Dean's, Frederick Douglass and more.

Be sure to check with the administrator of your scholarship to ensure you can apply it to your study abroad program if it is not listed above.

You may apply UMD tuition remission to Maryland Semester, Maryland Short-term, Freshmen Abroad, Exchange, and Affiliate Programs. Tuition remission cannot be applied to study abroad application fees, deposits or other tuition costs not directly billed to your UMD account. Tuition remission may not be applied to Other Approved Programs. Please note that there are limitations to the amount of study abroad costs covered by tuition remission.