Congratulations! You've been admitted.

Your acceptance to Santa Clara University is an open door to a new, exciting education and future. We’ve chosen you to join our dynamic and diverse student body and be among the brightest students at SCU.

Your Next Steps to Becoming a Bronco

After you make your enrollment deposit in your SCU application portal, there are still several steps to complete your enrollment such as reviewing your financial aid offer, signing up for a virtual enrollment information session, and signing up for on-campus housing. Please visit our admitted student page for more information.

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section for new students answers some of the most commonly asked questions the One Stop staff receives. If you cannot find answers to your questions here, please email onestop@scu.edu or call 408-551-1000. We are happy to assist you!

Bursar FAQs

When will I receive my billing statement? When are payments due?

Billing is processed electronically by the 1st of each month and will include:

Charges: tuition, housing, orientation fees, ACCESS card charges (if applicable) and other misc. fees
Credits: deposits, payments, anticipated and disbursed SCU aid, Federal & private loans and reported external scholarships.

An e-bill notification will be sent to your SCU gmail account and to any Authorized Payer you set-up. You must provide permission to any third party to view financial information and submit payment on your behalf by setting them up as an Authorized Payer.

Payment must be made on or before the posted payment deadlines in order to avoid a registration hold and a late payment fee. Please plan ahead to ensure that payments sent via US mail are mailed in sufficient time to arrive on time. Please also be mindful of extended bank closures/holidays and plan ahead accordingly so that payments arrive on time.

**Important Reminder: You may receive a bill each month. Although the payment deadlines per term are set, students may accrue miscellaneous fees from other departments (or when adding money to your ACCESS card) that may show up on a billing statement for a non-payment deadline month. Please make it a habit to check your billing statements on your SCU Pay portal every month.**

Payment deadlines for all programs:

Undergraduate Students:
Fall: August 21st
Winter: December 21st
Spring: March 21st
Summer: May 21st

Graduate Students:
Fall: August 21st
Winter: December 21st
Spring: March 21st
Summer: May 21st

Law Students:
Fall: July 21st
Spring: December 21st
Summer: May 21st

JST Students:
Fall: August 21st
Winter Intersession: December 21st
Spring: January 21st
Summer: May 21st

What are the methods of tuition payment at Santa Clara? Where do I mail payments?

You may pay with checks*, cashier checks*, online through your SCU Pay Site with e-checks.

We do not accept cash.

International students may use Flywire to wire money to Santa Clara University directly.

SCU offers an in-term payment plan option for an additional fee of $40 for each term you enroll in the payment plan.

Please note: that you must re-enroll online for each term for this in-term payment plan option.

We do not accept credit or debit card payments.

Make checks payable to Santa Clara University.
Be sure to include your name and your SCU student ID number on the memo line in the bottom left-hand corner of the check.

Mail checks to the following address:

SCU Payment Processing
PO.Box 550
Santa Clara, CA 95052-0550

If you would like to mail checks overnight, please use this address:

Santa Clara University
Attn: Bursar's Office
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053

^{*Make sure that the checks include your name and the SCU ID number!!}

What happens if I miss a payment deadline?

A late payment hold will be applied your student account, which would restrict you, the student, from adjusting your class schedule. Please note that if you miss a payment deadline, a $100 non-refundable late payment fee will also be placed on the account.

For delinquent holds to be removed, the overdue bill must be paid. Depending on the form of payment, the hold will be released according to the following timeline:

For cashier's check, or international wire transfers, the hold will be released within 24 business hours. We do not currently accept domestic wire transfers.
Online payments will take 7 calendar days.
Personal check payments will take 14 calendar days.

Some payment holds cannot be paid online, depending on the hold. Please call for more information.
For poor payment history, some account holds will remain for multiple terms, depending on the payment history.

What is the difference between Authorized Payer and FERPA?

Authorized Payers receive billing notification emails and can view/pay the bills. FERPA (Federal Educaton Rights and Prvacy Act of 1974) allows designated persons to receive detailed information about your student account.

I have my own health insurance. How can I waive out of it?

Santa Clara University requires all degree seeking students enrolled at least half -time in their school or college to have health insurance (excluding certificate and online programs). ALL F-1 visa students, regardless of number of units, are required to have insurance.

This requirement helps to protect against unexpected high medical cost and provides access to quality health care.

The waiver must be completed by the student, not a parent. If there is a charge for health insurance on your account, the insurance charge will be reversed from your student account within 3-5 days upon the waiver's completion.

Students must complete the health insurance waiver before the deadline to waive, which is provided on the Cowell Health Center webpage.

Please note that the waiver must be completed EVERY academic year.

Follow these steps:

Please go to MYSCU Portal

Scroll down and click on "Gallagher" to access the online insurance waiver. You will be directed to the Gallagher website.

Log into Gallagher and click on "WAIVE"

Once you complete the insurance waiver by providing your health insurance information, choose COMPLETE & SUBMIT

After completing the application, you will get an email to your SCU email account stating that the waiver has been submitted.

Once the waiver is approved, it should take 3-5 business days for the waiver to be reversed from your account.

^{**Note for F1 visa students: please follow the extra steps available on www.scu.edu/cowell/insurance}

Financial Aid FAQs

What is the FAFSA?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the application used to determine eligibility for federal and state student grants, federal work study and federal loans. The U.S. Department of Education accepts applications for an upcoming academic year starting October 1 of the prior year. Go to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.

Students should complete the FAFSA for each Academic Year they wish to be packaged with federal aid.

The federal school code for SCU is: 001326

What are the requirements to be eligible for financial aid?

In order to be eligible for financial aid you must meet the following criteria:

Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen in a degree or certificate program of study at least half-time
Make satisfactory academic progress
Not be in default on a federal student loan
Not owe a refund on any federal financial aid grant
Have a valid Social Security number
Be registered with Selective Service (if required)
Enrollment status will be calculated based only on those courses that are required for, or that can be applied as an eligible elective credit toward, a student's degree or certificate program

Undergraduate Students:

Student must be enrolled in at least half-time status to be eligible for federal aid.

Full-time: 12 units
Half-time: 6 units

Graduate Students:

Student must be enrolled in at least half-time status to be eligible for federal funding.

Please note that some Scholarships awarded by your Graduate Program may be awarded based on the amount of units that you are enrolled in so please be sure to check with your Program!!

Graduate Students: The unit requirement for each program is different. Please check the information below to see how many units you need in order to qualify:

Counseling Psychology & Education

Full-time: 9 units
Half-time: 4.5 units

Graduate Engineering

Full-time: 8 units
Half-time: 4 units

Graduate School of Business (Includes MSIS)

Full-time: 9 units
Half-time: 4.5 units

Pastoral Ministries

Full-time: 8 units
Half-time: 4 units

Law School JD/LLM

Full-time: 12 units
Half-time: 6 units

I just accepted a federal direct loan, what's the next step?

Now that you have accepted your federal direct loans, you will need to complete two loan requirements that can be done on studentaid.gov.

Master Promissory Note (MPN)

The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is a legal document which the borrower signs as a promise to repay your loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education. It also explains the terms and conditions of your loan(s). Unless your school does not allow more than one loan to be made under the same MPN, you can borrow additional Direct Loans on a single MPN for up to 10 years.

The Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) must be signed by the borrower prior to the school certification and prior to the disbursement of any loan funds to the student's account. The completion of the MPN is generally signed at the time the application is submitted and can be signed electronically during the application process.

If the borrower applies for the loan each year, then the borrower only has to complete the MPN once – the first year these funds are borrowed for you. The borrower, however, must re-apply for a new loan every year.

Entrance Counseling

If you accept a Federal Direct Loan, federal and institutional regulations require you to complete an entrance counseling tutorial. You will learn important information about repayment, deferment, forbearance and cancellation. Students meet this requirement by completing the online the entrance counseling tutorial at studentaid.gov.

If you have not previously received a Federal Direct Loan, the federal government requires you to complete entrance counseling to ensure that you understand the responsibilities and obligations you are assuming.

Do I have to borrow the full amount?

You can request to lower the loan amount by emailing onestop@scu.edu. Please include the following items in an email:

Your name
ID number
The name of the loan you wish to have reduced along with the specific amount requested.

Can I apply for more scholarships? I received a private scholarship. How can I add it to my financial aid package?

SCU scholarships and grants are only awarded upon admittance. You can apply for private scholarships outside of SCU.

Here is a link for a list of outside scholarships:

Outside Scholarships

I won an outside scholarship! What is the next step?

You have the option to mail the check or deliver it in-person at SCU One Stop. Please make sure the check is made payable to Santa Clara University. If the check is made out to you, please endorse the back of the check and write: “Make Payable to SCU.”

If you choose to mail the private scholarship, please mail it to:

Santa Clara University
ATTN: Financial Aid Office
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA, 95053

Please note that if the scholarship does not specify which term the award is for, the Financial Aid Office distributes the amount of the private scholarship check between: Fall, Winter, & Spring. If you want your private scholarship to go towards a specific term, please have the donor mail or email our office a statement, with your name and SCU ID number, the way you would like your scholarship money awarded.

What is Federal Work Study?

Work study is a federal student aid program for college students with financial need that helps them get part-time jobs.

Federal work-study is utilized by having a job and earning a paycheck as work-study earnings
Federal work-study is intended to help students pay for books, supplies, personal expenses during the academic year
The offer has limited funding and is offered to students based on their need eligibility
Income is counted as financial aid, and not as regular income, which increases a student’s eligibility for financial aid
The employing department pays 25% of the work-study wages, while the remainder is sourced by the federal work-study fund

A list of FAQ’s can be found on the financial aid website here .

Registrar FAQs

Why do I need to add my parents to a FERPA Release?

If your parents call our office asking about your financial/academic information, we would not be able to disclose anything unless you add them to your FERPA Release.

FERPA does not allow us to discuss grades to your parents.

More information on FERPA can be found here: www.scu.edu/ferpa