Application of Payments on BruinBill

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 outlines general rules that apply to federal student financial aid. In the calculation for cost of attendance, allowable charges include tuition, mandatory fees, and university room and board. Allowable charges will automatically be paid when financial aid is disbursed to your account. 

Prior to the OneBill Initiative, automated payments with federal aid excluded housing fees because of the separation of tuition and housing charges on different BruinBill accounts. The intention of these funds to pay allowable charges, however, has not changed. 

Most sources of financial aid (e.g. grants, loans, scholarships) will apply to BruinBill charges in the following order:

1. Housing 
2. Tuition
3. Miscellaneous fees (Transportation, Ashe Center, etc.) 

After applying to these expenses, any remaining or unapplied aid may be processed as a BruinBill Refund. 

Note: Financial aid disbursements may apply toward unpaid charges in previous terms in the same academic year prior to generating a refund. Disbursements cannot automatically apply to charges from a previous academic year or future terms. 

The table below identifies common undergraduate funding sources and what BruinBill fees they are eligible to automatically apply towards.  

*Some exceptions if otherwise noted on the scholarship award letter.

The table below identifies common graduate funding sources and what BruinBill fees they are eligible to automatically apply towards.

Please note that some funding sources may have written policies which exclude coverage of particular assessments. 

Personal payments on BruinBill apply to the oldest unpaid charge. You can view the post date for each individual transaction on BruinBill to determine the order of your charges.