Student Fee Protocol

The student's fee liability is as follows:

• All students are fully liable for payment of their own student fee once registered.
• Once a student registers online on a course they immediately become liable to payment of fees for the period of registration up to the date they officially withdraw.  Please check the link to withdrawal dates and fee implications here. If you wish to withdraw you must inform your programme chair, complete the following form, return your student ID card and contact the fees office to ensure there is no outstanding fee liability.
• The Student Levy is payable in full by all students at registration and must be paid online.
• Students who apply for a SUSI grant/employer funding and are later refused are held fully liable for their relevant fee.
• It should be noted that DCU Fees Staff cannot talk to third parties on your behalf without your written consent,  this includes parents, guardians, SUSI etc.
• Students on Scholarships must have written confirmation of the award and relevant budget code

For full information regarding when to pay for all EU and Non EU Undergraduate Students please see here.

For full information regarding when to pay for all EU and Non EU Postgraduate Students please see here.

Please note the following: 

• EU Fees status/Non EU students must pay 60% of their relevant fee prior to registration.
• All EU Fee Status students who do not qualify for a SUSI/local authority grant or the government's free tuition fee scheme must pay 60% of their total fee prior to registration. This also applies to students who attended previous universities.

Where a student is experiencing financial difficulty/hardship they may apply to the Student Hardship Fund for review, which can be found here. 

Alternative payment arrangements may be agreed in advance with the Student Fees Office where appropriate. Please contact fees directly at fees@dcu.ie

For full information on all payment options available in DCU please see Fee Payment Options Here.

For information regarding alternative payment plans please contact the fees team directly at fees@dcu.ie

The Fees Office will actively pursue overdue payments during the academic year and communicate through students' DCU email address initially. Follow up letters and texts and emails will be sent if appropriate.

Students who do not engage with the Fees office in relation to overdue fees will have all their online access suspended and a late fine of €170 applied to their account.

The university reserves the right to have a third party conduct the collection of fees using any contact details furnished by the student.

Sanctions

Sanctions will be applied to all students whose fees remain unpaid after the dates outlined in Payment Schedule section above without the formal agreement of the University's Fees Office. Where a student continues to have an outstanding debt, their registration record will have a financial hold placed on it.

The following restrictions will apply:

• Late payment penalty of €170 will be imposed.
• A hold will be placed on all accounts with outstanding fees.
• Access to Loop, email and Library facilities will be blocked.
• Examination results will be withheld.
• Access to transcripts, statements of results etc. will be withheld.
• Continuing students will not be permitted to register for subsequent academic years.
• Students will not be permitted to graduate until outstanding fees have been paid in full.
• Accounts that have not been paid by the end of the academic session will be referred to a third party independent collection agency. Students will be liable for all additional debt collection charges in this circumstance.

This protocol is included in the University Terms and conditions which are brought to the notice of all our students before they register online and are binding once registration is confirmed.

The University accepts no obligation to refund any fee, or part thereof once a student registers on a course. 

Students remain liable for fees for the period of registration up to the date they officially withdraw. To officially withdraw, a student must return their student ID card and formally withdraw via their student apps page.

It should be noted that it is not simply enough to speak to your Chairperson and tell them you will not be returning to your Programme. If you wish to withdraw you must inform your programme chair, complete the following form, return your student ID card and contact the fees office to ensure there is no outstanding fee liability.

Failure to formally withdraw will incur a fee liability for the student. Once a student officially withdraws they will not have access to student email.

For more information regarding withdrawing from DCU please see here.

Application fees are non-refundable under any circumstances.

Acceptance/Deposit fees are non-refundable except under the circumstance outlined in the DCU Refund Policy.

Students who withdraw before/up to 31st October are not liable to pay student Contribution and no tuition fees will be claimed from the HEA for that student by the University in the current academic year.

Students who withdraw before 31st January are liable to pay 50% Student Contribution Fee and 50% Tuition fee will be claimed from the HEA for that student by the University in the current academic year.  The student will be liable to pay 50% tuition fee and 100% contribution fee should they return to third level education 

Students who withdraw after 31st January are liable to pay 100% Student Contribution  fee and 100% Tuition fee will be claimed from the HEA.  Students will be liable to pay 100% Tuition Fee and 100% Student Contribution fee should they return to third level education.

Students who withdraw before/up to 25th October are not liable to pay fees in the current academic year.

Students who withdraw before 31st January are liable to pay 60% of the fee due in the current academic year.

Students who withdraw after 31st January are liable to pay 100% of the fee due in the current academic year.

Students who withdraw before 31st October are liable to a non refundable deposit of €500 the fee due in the current academic year.

Students who withdraw before 31st January are liable to pay 60% of the fee due in the current academic year.

Students who withdraw after 31st January are liable to pay 100% of the fee due in the current academic year.

For further information please check our refund Procedure and Guidance notes here.

Student fees may be waived on medical grounds if the student can provide appropriate medical documentary evidence that they cannot attend or complete the Programme. Students will also be asked to provide a letter from their counsellor, consultant or hospital stating that they are fit to return to study before returning to DCU.

Supplement Evidence for Fee Waiver

Supplementary evidence must be provided to support the application. This will take the form of:

Hospital letter - dated, signed and stamped

   or

Letter from Consultant/Counsellor - dated, signed and stamped 

   or

Letter from Consultant, Counsellor or Hospital stating student is fit to return

For further information please check the Student Support and Development Webpage Here.

Fees Applicable on Medical Grounds

The following fees apply to students who have postponed their studies on medical grounds an are returning to the same Programme the following year:

Students who defer a full academic year prior to registration will incur no fee liability.

Students who register and subsequently defer prior to the 31st October will have their fees payment carried forward to the next academic year.

Students who postpone on medical grounds will be required to pay the full student contribution/tuition fee. However students may be eligible for the medical waiver of fees when they re-register.

Student records must be updated to reflect the certified illness for the semester they are seeking a medical waiver for (all exams must be deferred). Certificates must cover the full period of absence from University.

Students who postpone the autumn repeats only on medical grounds will not be entitled to a medical waiver (except in exceptional circumstances).

Students coming to DCU from another university will not be permitted to apply for a medical fee waiver. Medical waivers do not carry from one university to another.

Medical waivers can only be availed of once during the duration of your programme.

Repeat/Deferred Fees for 25/26 are as follows:

- €57 per ECTS credit + €43 Levy + €234 Fixed Registration Charge (all full time programmes)

- €57 per ECTS credit + €40 Levy + €130 Fixed Registration Charge (all part time programmes)

For more information regarding Repeat/Deferred fees please see here.

Registration fee to submit a deferred dissertation: €325 + Levy + Fixed Registration Charge

Registration fee to re-submit a failed dissertation: €475 + Fixed Registration Charge

For more information regarding pricing for Levies and Registration Charges please see here.

In order to avail of the special dissertation fee of €475 plus levy, students must only have minor changes to make to their dissertation this must be confirmed by the student's Supervisor by email.

They must be ready to submit by 1st December as registration is only for three months and not a full academic year. This rate applies to taught masters only. This rate does not apply to the Faculty of Engineering and Computing.

Students may be eligible for student financial assistance through the Student Assistance Fund to meet living expenses, if the student can provide appropriate documentary evidence that they cannot afford to pay for living costs.  Students on grants can obtain or renew a grant to pay the relevant fee.  Payment plans can be put in place to cater for students who do not qualify for grants. The Student Assistance Fund is co-ordinated through Student Support & Development.  Please see further information here.

Full details of the Student Assistance Fund (funded via the National Development Plan) are available here.

Student Support & Development operate the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) providing financial support to students who are experiencing short or long-term financial difficulties while attending higher education. The Higher Education Authority (HEA) manages it on behalf of the Department of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science.

The fund is open to full-time and part-time students aimed at tackling educational disadvantage by providing financial support to those who may require additional financial support to enable them to benefit fully from their higher education.  

For further information please contact the Student Advice & Support Centre at 7007165 or email studentassistancefund@dcu.ie.

1. First year DCU students who made the wrong CAO choice and now wish to change programmes internally can apply
2. Students must have paid full course fees in the previous year of entry to avail of the reduced fee (€3,697)
3. Forms must be submitted for approval prior to the 12th September and the student will be required to pay 60% of the above prior to registration. No application will be accepted after the above date.
4. To apply for the internal transfer fee rate please complete the following form.

New students who commence their research from 2nd March onwards each year register as normal but because they are registering during DCU's registration grace period, this means that they will not be liable for any research fees until the start of the next academic year.  Students who are paying their own fees will however be liable to a non-refundable deposit of €500, which will then be deducted from their fees when they re-register in September in the following academic year. 

Please note: Students who register during the grace period (March to September) will register as Year 1 students but they must re-register as Year 1 students in September for the next academic year (even though this will have meant registering twice in a short period of time). Such students will only be liable to the 1st year full-time or part-time fee applicable to the new academic year.