Understanding Your Bill

View a sample of what your monthly bill will look like and learn common terms and concepts. 

You will receive a billing statement at regular intervals each semester according to the billing schedule, and you are responsible for paying the balance by the deadline indicated. Your billing statement is a static snapshot of your student account, which you can view in real time on Penn.Pay. Below we outline a sample bill with many of the charges, credits, and billing terminologies that you are likely to see on your own bill.

Sample image of a bill
  1. Your statement is a static view of your student account on this date. You can view payments or charges applied to your account after this date in real time on Penn.Pay.
     
  2. If you are carrying a balance from your previous bill, it will be displayed here and added to your new charges to reflect your current balance.
     
  3. If applicable, any charges from Summer Session II will appear on your Fall Term bill. All charges are linked to a specific term, so it's easy for you to track them over time.
     
  4. All students are charged tuition and several mandatory fees each semester. This undergraduate student example includes the general fee, technology fee, and clinical fee.
     
  5. Students living on campus are charged rent and a fee from their College House each semester. Students living off campus will not see these charges on their bill.
     
  6. Students with a meal plan are charged each semester for their chosen plan's cost. Students without a meal plan will not see this charge on their bill.
     
  7. If you choose to participate in the Penn Payment Plan to pay your bill in installments over the course of the semester, you will see the enrollment fee on your bill one time each semester.
     
  8. Current credits reflect funding that has been applied to your account to offset charges. This can include financial aid or payments from you and your family.
     
  9. Your current billed balance is what is left over after subtracting credits from charges. This is not necessarily what you owe, as your account may also have memoed credits listed.
     
  10. "Memoed" is another word for "anticipated." This funding has not yet been applied to your account, but we expect that it will be based on your eligibility. When the funding is finalized, it will appear under "Current Credits" on your next statement. If the funding never arrives (for instance, if you do not complete the requirements for finalizing a federal loan) you will be responsible for covering the balance.
     
  11. If you are participating in the Penn Payment Plan, scheduled payments will display as memoed credits. You will pay these amounts in future months.
     
  12. The total amount due takes into account memoed financial aid and scheduled payments. This is the amount you are required to pay before the deadline listed above. If this number is negative, that means you are owed a student account refund, which will be deposited into your bank account if you sign up for direct deposit.