The University Cashier’s Office provides billing, financial aid disbursement and account management services to all students. All students paying tuition and fees are entitled to University services, facilities and programs, including the services, facilities, and programs offered by the Student Center, Health Services, Physical Education Department, and Athletics Department.

Visit the Student Services Center website for the most up-to-date information on campus finances and student tuition and fees.

A statement of tuition and fees is posted on each student’s account that registered during a normal registration period. Students (and authorized parents) are notified via e-mail (eBILL) when a new statement has posted. Payment in full, an authorized payment plan, or approved financial aid information must be received by the due date appearing on the statement. The due date is approximately two weeks before classes begin. Students registering during a late registration period will be required to pay their tuition and fees at the time of registration and may be subject to a late registration fee. Fees are the same for both residents and nonresidents and are required of all students. Schedules may be canceled for failure to cover all charges by the due date.

Estimated Annual Undergraduate Expenses

Visit https://studentservices.ncsu.edu/your-money/financial-aid/estimated-cost-of-attendance/undergraduate-student/

1. Note: Tuition and fees are fixed items of cost. The rates listed are for Undergraduate students in a degree program. Tuition and fee rates for Distance Education courses are billed based on the student's affiliation, see the Student Services Center website for full details.
2. Health Insurance is billed unless you waive out of the program each semester. For more information, visit the Student Health website.
3. Room rent is shown as an estimate of students living on or off campus.
4. Meals, books and supplies, other personal expense, and transportation are shown as estimates.
5. For estimated costs of other student classifications please go to the Student Services Center website.

Expenses Other than Tuition and General Fees

Application Fee: A nonrefundable fee $85 U.S. must accompany each application for admission ($100 for international students). Applicants may pay the fee online using their WolfPAW account.

Room Rent: New incoming students receive instructions on how to apply for housing with the letter of acceptance. Continuing students receive room reservation information each January at their residence hall rooms. The 2023-2024 residence hall room rent typically range from $3,525 to $3,950 per semester plus mandatory charges for ResNet ($140) and streaming/cable ($48). The Wolf Village and Wolf Ridge Apartments typically range from $4,150 to $4,650 per semester plus mandatory charges for ResNet ($140) and streaming/cable ($48)  per person per semester. 

Meals: During their first academic year, new freshmen living on campus are required to participate in one of the university’s available meal plans. Meal plans are available to all registered students and costs for 2023-2024 range from $1,170 to $2,980 plus tax. Students may also pay for meals individually at the various dining facilities available both on and near campus.

Books and Supplies: Books and supplies are usually purchased during the first week of classes directly from the NCSU Bookstores. Costs can vary,

Personal Expenses: Personal expenses vary widely among students but the estimate of $1,855 per year is based on what students report that they spend on these items.

Cooperative Education Program Fee: Required of all participating co-op students for each semester in which they are enrolled in an off campus work assignment. This fee, set at $490 for the 2024 Fall Semester, the 2025 Spring Semester, or the combined 2024 Summer Sessions, is used for partial support of the Cooperative Education Program staff in job development and placement activities. Students paying this fee are entitled to all university services, facilities, and programs during the semester or combined summer sessions for which they are enrolled.

COE Program Enhancement Fee - Students enrolled in the College of Engineering will be charged a COE Program Enhancement Fee. This fee is used for program and infrastructure improvements in the College of Engineering to ensure our engineering students are provided career-ready skills that continue to advantage them in the marketplace. Each semester, undergraduates will be charged $62.50 per credit hour. Each semester graduate students will be charged $83.33 per credit hour. Engineering students who enroll in a co-op work session will not be billed for the computing fee unless they also enroll in an NC State course.

Professional Golf Management Fee: Students enrolled in the Professional Golf Management program (PGM) will be charged $350/semester. The fee pays for golf play and practice privileges at several area golf courses.

Required Fees

Required fees are levied for services, facilities, and programs available to all students whether or not the student takes advantage of them. Students are assessed fees based on the course load they are taking. An itemization of required fees and other detailed information concerning expenses or related data can be obtained on the Student Services Center website.

Refund Policy

Reduction in Hours: The last day to reduce hours and receive a refund or reduction in rates is the same as the last day to register or add hours, typically the 10th day of a fall or spring term and the 4th day of a summer session. Tuition and Fees are not prorated after this date for reduced course loads. Specific dates are posted on the Student Services Center website and in MyPACK Portal.

Withdrawal: Dropping all courses for which you are registered constitutes a Withdrawal from the University. Refunds for official withdrawals from NC State University are prorated based upon the percentage of the enrollment period attended. No refunds are made for official withdrawals after 50 percent of the enrollment period has passed. The prorated withdrawal schedule for each semester is publicized on the Student Services Center website. In some instances circumstances such as severe medical issues can justify an appeal of your refund percentage. You may submit an appeal to the Fee Appeals Committee when you believe special consideration is merited. Applications for such appeals may be obtained from the Student Services Center website. 

Residency Determination Service (RDS)

The Residency Determination Service (RDS) was established in coordination with the University of North Carolina (UNC), the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA), and the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) as the centralized service for determining residency for students. This service enables a student to use one residency determination for admissions applications to multiple North Carolina public colleges and universities and to demonstrate residency for state aid programs consideration at all (public and private) North Carolina colleges and universities. In compliance with state law, the UNC system requires Undergraduate, Agricultural Institute, and Non-Degree Studies students to request a residency classification through the RDS.

Learn more online.

Residence Status for Tuition Purposes

According to the North Carolina General Assembly (North Carolina General Statutes Section (G.S.) 116-143.1(b)), a student qualifies as a resident for tuition purposes if he or she has:

• an established legal residency (domicile) in North Carolina
• maintained that legal residence for at least 12 continuous months prior to being considered for in-state residency

The North Carolina State Residence Classification Manual offers complete information on residency statutes, as well as explanations as how the two qualifications above are evaluated.

Initial Classification: The student’s initial residence classification occurs during the admission application process when the student is first admitted to a community college or UNC institution.

Reclassification: A student, accepted for admission, who is initially classified as a nonresident and believes he or she meets the requirements of G.S. 116-143.1, -143.3, or any other applicable laws and regulations may request a reclassification by completing the RDS process. The request for reclassification may be submitted either in direct response to the initial classification (if the student believes the initial classification is erroneous), or at a future time if the student has experienced a change in circumstances that he or she believes makes him or her eligible for in-state resident status. Students must submit requests for reclassification in accordance with approved procedures and application deadlines. The institution will not assume responsibility for initiating such an inquiry independently.

Residency Reclassification Application Deadlines. Except for deadlines set out in the General Statutes, institutions (undergraduate or graduate) may set their own deadlines so long as they are not inconsistent with the deadlines. The deadline to submit the reclassification application along with all supporting documentation cannot be later than the 10th business day of the term for which the student is seeking residency reclassification. All conditions necessary for achieving in-state status must still be satisfied prior to the beginning of the academic term for which the student is seeking reclassification. It is the student’s responsibility to provide the documentation necessary to support his or her claims for in-state residency for tuition purposes by the applicable deadlines.

Residence. To qualify as a resident for tuition purposes, a person must become a legal resident and remain a legal resident for at least twelve consecutive months (365 days) immediately prior to classification. Thus, there is a distinction between legal residence and residence for tuition purposes. Furthermore, twelve months legal residence means more than simple abode in North Carolina. In particular, it means maintaining a domicile (permanent home of indefinite duration) as opposed to “maintaining a mere temporary residence or abode incident to enrollment in an institution of higher education.” The burden of establishing facts which justify classification of a student as a resident entitled to in-state tuition rates is on the applicant for such classification, who must show his or her entitlement by the preponderance (the greater part) of the residentiary information.

Parents’ Domicile. If an individual, irrespective of age, has living parent(s) or court appointed guardian of the person, the domicile of such parent(s) or guardian is, prima facie, the domicile of the individual; but this prima facie evidence of the individual’s domicile may or may not be sustained by other information. Further, non-domiciliary status of parents is not deemed prima facie evidence of the applicant child’s status if the applicant has lived (though not necessarily legally resided) in North Carolina for the five years preceding enrollment or registration.

Effect of Marriage. Marriage alone does not prevent a person from becoming or continuing to be a resident for tuition purposes, nor does marriage in any circumstance insure that a person will become or continue to be a resident for tuition purposes. Marriage and the legal residence of one’s spouse are, however, relevant information in determining residentiary intent. Furthermore, if both a husband and his wife are legal residents of North Carolina and if one of them has been a legal resident longer than the other, then the longer duration may be claimed by either spouse in meeting the twelve month requirement for instate tuition status.

Military Personnel. Any active duty member of the armed services qualifying for admission to an institution of higher education but not qualifying as a resident for tuition purposes shall be charged the in-State tuition rate and applicable mandatory fees for enrollments while the member of the armed services is abiding in this State incident to active military duty in this State. In the event the active duty member of the armed services is reassigned outside of North Carolina or retires, the member shall continue to be eligible for the in-State tuition rate and applicable mandatory fees so long as the member is continuously enrolled in the degree or other program in which the member was enrolled at the time the member is reassigned. In the event the active duty member of the armed services receives an Honorable Discharge from military service, the member shall continue to be eligible for the in-State tuition rate and applicable mandatory fees so long as the member establishes residency in North Carolina within 30 days after the discharge and is continuously enrolled in the degree of other program in which the member was enrolled at the time the member is discharged.

Any dependent relative of a member of the armed services who is abiding in this State incident to active military duty, as defined by the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina and by the State Board of Community Colleges while sharing the abode of that member shall be eligible to be charged the in-State tuition rate, if the dependent relative qualifies for admission to an institution of higher education. The dependent relatives shall comply with the requirements of the Selective Service System, if applicable, in order to be accorded this benefit. In the event the member of the armed services is reassigned outside of North Carolina or retires, the dependent relative shall continue to be eligible for the in-State tuition rate and applicable mandatory fees so long as the dependent relative is continuously enrolled in the degree or other program in which the dependent relative was enrolled at the time the member is reassigned or retires. In the event the member of the armed services receives an Honorable Discharge from military service, the dependent relative shall continue to be eligible for the in-State tuition rate and applicable mandatory fees so long as the dependent relative establishes residency within North Carolina within 30 days after the discharge and is continuously enrolled in the degree or other program in which the dependent relative was enrolled at the time the member is discharged. A person charged less than out-of-state tuition rate solely by reason of this section shall not, during the period of receiving that benefit, qualify for or be the basis of conferring the benefit of G.S. 116-143.1.

Grace Period. If a person (1) has been a bona fide legal resident, (2) has consequently been classified a resident for tuition purposes, and (3) has subsequently lost North Carolina legal residence while enrolled at a public institution of higher education, that person may continue to enjoy the in-state tuition rate for a grace period of twelve months measured from the date on which North Carolina legal residence was lost. If the twelve months ends during an academic term for which the person is enrolled at a State institution of higher education, the grace period extends, in addition, to the end of that term. The fact of marriage to one who continues domicile outside North Carolina does not by itself cause loss of legal residence marking the beginning of the grace period.

Minors. Minors (persons under 18 years of age) usually have the domicile of their parents, but certain special cases are recognized by the residence classification statute in determining residence for tuition purposes.

a) If a minor’s parents live apart, the minor’s domicile is deemed to be North Carolina for the time period(s) that either parent, as a North Carolina legal resident, may claim and does claim the minor as a tax dependent, even if other law or judicial act assigns the minor’s domicile outside North Carolina. A minor thus deemed to be a legal resident will not, upon achieving majority before enrolling at an institution of higher education, lose North Carolina legal residence if that person

1. Upon becoming an adult “acts, to the extent that the person’s degree of actual emancipation permits, in a manner consistent with bona fide legal residence in North Carolina” and
2. Begins enrollment at an institution of higher education not later than the fall academic term following completion of education prerequisite to admission at such institution.”

b) If a minor has lived for five or more consecutive years with relatives (other than parents) who are domiciled in North Carolina and if the relatives have functioned during this time as if they were personal guardians, the minor will be deemed a resident for tuition purposes for an enrolled term commencing immediately after at least five years in which these circumstances have existed. If under this consideration a minor is deemed to be a resident for tuition purposes immediately prior to his or her eighteenth birthday, that person on achieving majority will be deemed a legal resident of North Carolina of at least twelve months duration. This provision acts to confer in-state tuition status even in the face of other provisions of law to the contrary; however, a person deemed a resident of twelve months duration pursuant to this provision continues to be a legal resident of the State so long as he or she does not abandon North Carolina domicile.

Lost but Regained Domicile. If a student ceases enrollment at or graduates from an institution of higher education while classified as a resident for tuition purposes and then both abandons and re-acquires North Carolina domicile within a twelve month period, that person, if he or she continues to maintain the reacquired domicile into re-enrollment at an institution of higher education, may re-enroll at the instate tuition rate without having to meet the usual 12-month durational requirement. However, any one person may receive the benefit of this provision only once.

Change of Status. A student admitted to initial enrollment in an institution (or permitted to enroll following an absence from the institutional program which involved a formal withdrawal from enrollment) must be classified by the admitting institution either as a resident or as a nonresident for tuition purposes prior to actual enrollment. A residence status classification once assigned (and finalized pursuant to any appeal properly taken) may be changed thereafter (with corresponding change in billing rates) only at intervals corresponding with the established primary divisions of the academic year.

Transfer Students. When a student transfers from one North Carolina public institution of higher education to another, he or she is treated as a new student by the institution to which he or she is transferring and must be assigned an initial residence status classification for tuition purposes.

Non-U.S. Citizens. Persons who are not U.S. citizens but who have certain visa and immigration statuses that grant them the legal ability to establish and maintain a bona fide domicile in this country are subject to the same considerations as U.S. citizens in determining residence status for tuition purposes. If it is later discovered that the person’s visa or immigration status was obtained fraudulently, the institution shall have the right to seek and collect payment of full, out-of-state tuition, along with fees and costs associated with such collection. Non-U.S. citizens present in the United States under certain visa statuses such as tourists, visitors on business, and temporary foreign/international students do not have the legal capacity to establish a bona fide domicile in this country (and thus, not in North Carolina). As examples, holders of non-immigrant visa statuses such as B, C, D, F, J, M, Q, S, and TN visas (and dependent visas for spouses and children such as a TD visa) cannot establish domicile with these documents, in and of themselves, unless there is a change in their visa status. An EAD, in and of itself, does not confer any immigrant or non-immigrant status and does not give the EAD holder the legal capacity to establish residency for tuition purposes in this state.

UNC System Employees. A person who is a full-time employee, in a permanent position, of The University of North Carolina, or is the spouse or dependent child of a full-time employee, in a permanent position, of The University of North Carolina, and who is a legal resident of North Carolina, qualifies as a resident for tuition purposes without having maintained that legal residence for at least 12 months immediately prior to his or her classification as a resident for tuition purposes.

The following categories of persons are eligible for tuition waivers:

Survivors of Deceased Law Enforcement/ Emergency Workers. Tuition waivers are available to the surviving spouse and children of a law enforcement officer (including sheriffs), firefighter, volunteer firefighter or rescue squad worker who was killed as a direct result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty (including both active service and training for active duty). Additional eligibility requirements must be met.

Families of Disabled Law Enforcement/Emergency Workers .Tuition waivers are available to the spouses and children of law enforcement officers (including sheriffs), firefighters, volunteer firefighters, or rescue squad workers who are permanently and totally disabled as a direct result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty (including both active service and training for active service). Additional eligibility requirements must be met.

Note: Decisions on residence for tuition purposes are based on NC G.S. 116-143.1 and 116-143.3 and on the State Residence Classification Manual which was prepared by the General Administration of the University of North Carolina system.

This information is subject to change.