Expenses

The Board of Governors of the University reserves the right to change the charges for tuition, fees and the room and board rate at any time without prior notice.

Tuition and Fees

(In effect at time of publication)

All charges on the student account are due and payable per published dates on the Student Accounts website to avoid class cancellation and/or registration, transcript, and diploma hold. Online payments can be made via E-bill (www.uncw.edu/e-bill). Checks and money orders should be made payable to the University of North Carolina Wilmington and include the student’s identification number.

Full-Time Main Campus Charges per Semester

PMBA, MSAC, MS CSIS, Masters Filmmaking, MSDS, and MPA students should refer to the separate tables below for tuition and fees. Rates reflected in tables below are for main campus students. Refer to the Student Accounts webpage (http://uncw.edu/studentaccounts/tuition_fees.html) for a more comprehensive listing of expenses.

Graduate students will be charged as shown below.

PMBA graduate students will be charged as shown below. 

MSAC graduate students will be charged as shown below. 

MS CSIS graduate students will be charged as shown below.

Masters Filmmaking graduate students will be charged as shown below.

MS Data Science graduate students will be charged as shown below.

MPA graduate students will be charged as shown below.

Distance Education/Extension* (per credit hour)

*NOTE: For Distance Education/Extension courses that require proctored exams, there may be additional fees for the verification of student identity. Students may also be required to find an independent testing facility for these exams. Contact the course instructor for more information.

**See information on residency at the end of this section.

The following student activities fees are included in the full-time tuition and the fee amount per year.

Mandatory Fee Allocation

NOTE: Some graduate programs incur additional fees. Contact your department for more information.  See list of fees: https://uncw.edu/studentaccounts/courseattributefees.html

Other fees:

Parking Annual Rates:

The University’s Board of Trustees reserves the right to change parking rates. Please visit the Parking and Transportation website at http://uncw.edu/parking/ to confirm current parking rates.
(In effect at time of publication)
All students operating motor vehicles on campus are required to purchase a UNCW Parking permit. Assignments will be made based on space available using class rank if registered before the pre-registration period and first-come, first-served after the pre-registration period.

Commuter Options:

Resident Options:

Campus Mail:

Charge for Late Registration or Late Payment of Tuition and Fees

A late charge will be assessed to students that fail to register and pay tuition and fees by published deadlines. Students are responsible for dropping classes that they are registered for and are not attending. Student Accounts reserve the right to drop classes for non-payment. Students who have been cancelled for non-payment must re-register the exact classes cancelled with a $75 late charge by the final reinstatement date. Appeals may be made to the Late Charge Appeals Committee c/o Student Accounts. Appeals must be submitted in writing no later than the last day of the semester in which the charge is incurred. Non-attendance or non-payment does not relieve a student of tuition liability. Students who do not plan to attend classes for a term must officially drop/withdraw from the semester.

On-Campus Living

UNC Wilmington houses more than 4,000 students in 10 residence halls, 7 suite-style buildings and 17 apartment buildings.  New incoming freshmen are required to live on campus for their first year unless they provide Housing & Residence Life with a written appeal indicating which of the six exception they fall under. One primary exception are students who maintain a primary residence with their parents or legal guardian within Brunswick County, New Hanover County or Pender County areas. Students who reside in Belk, Cornerstone, Graham, Hewlett, Keystone, Innovation, Pelican, Sandpiper, Schwartz, and University Suites are required to purchase a meal plan. Seahawk Village, Seahawk Landing, and Seahawk Crossing residents are encouraged to purchase a voluntary meal plan since it provides easy access to the many food options on campus.

Room and Board Rates

Room rates include: rent, utilities, local phone service, internet, cable TV, housekeeping (except in the apartments) and security.

The term of this agreement is two semesters unless this agreement is expressly approved by the Director of Housing and Residence Life or his/her designee for the spring semester only. The housing rate is paid on a semester basis.

The University reserves the right to change campus housing rates at any time without prior notice. A non-refundable $105 housing application fee must be remitted with each completed housing agreement. Timely submission of the housing application and $105 housing fee is highly recommended. Assignments will be made on a first come, first served basis. Once all beds are assigned, Housing and Residence Life will start a waiting list. The waiting list will remain in effect through the opening of the residential facilities on August 17, 2019.

2020 - 2021 Housing Rates

Freshmen are not permitted to live in the Seahawk Apartments.

Voluntary On-Campus Housing or Off-Campus Living – Meal Plans

UNCW offers voluntary meal plans for students living off campus or in Non-Traditional Housing, consisting of Seahawk Village, Seahawk Landing, or Seahawk Crossing. The plans are designed to give students the convenience of using their One Card instead of carrying cash.

Meal Plan Rolling: The student’s Fall semester meal plan will be automatically assigned to the student for the Spring semester. Changes to meal plans, including an option to cancel an automatically assigned meal plan, can be made in MySeaport before the change period end date. For a list of current change period dates and additional details, please visit the UNCW student meal plan website at www.uncw.edu/studentmealplans/.

Unused Food Dollars are permitted to roll if you purchase a meal plan for the following semester. Rolling is permitted from summer to fall and fall to spring ONLY. All Food Dollars expire at the end of the spring semester.

On-Campus Required Housing - Meal Plans

UNCW offers voluntary meal plans for students living off campus or Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors and Graduate students living in Voluntary On-Campus Housing, consisting of Seahawk Village, Seahawk Landing, or Seahawk Crossing. The plans are designed to give students the convenience of using their One Card instead of carrying cash.

Meal Plan Rolling: The student’s Fall semester meal plan will be automatically assigned to the student for the Spring semester. Changes to meal plans, including an option to cancel an automatically assigned meal plan, can be made in MySeaport before the change period end date. For a list of current change period dates and additional details, please visit the UNCW student meal plan website at www.uncw.edu/studentmealplans/.

Unused Food Dollars roll over to the next semester if and only if you purchase a meal plan for that semester. Additionally, rolling occurs from summer to fall and fall to spring ONLY. Unused Food Dollars will be rolled into the following semester’s account after the meal plan change period for that semester. All unused Food Dollars expire at the end of the spring semester.

Meal Plan Options

2020-2021 On-Campus Required Housing Meal Plans

Traditional Summer School (2021) Housing (Residence Hall)

If you are interested in obtaining information regarding campus housing, please contact:

Housing and Residence Life
University of North Carolina Wilmington
601 South College Road
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403-5959
Telephone 910-962-3241
Fax: 910-962-7032

Summer School

Summer school tuition, fees, refund policy, and room and board rates will be listed on the summer school Web page www.uncw.edu/summer.

UNCW Refund Policy – Fall and Spring

The university’s refund policy complies with the requirements of the university’s accrediting agency and the U.S. Department of Education. This refund policy only applies to complete withdrawals from UNCW. Students who simply withdraw from an individual class after the drop/add period receive NO refund or reduction of fees.

Students must follow the official withdrawal process to receive a refund under the university’s policy. To officially withdraw from the university, students must submit an Official Withdrawal Form to the Graduate School. Any outstanding financial obligations to the university will be deducted from the amount refunded.

A student who officially withdraws from the university on or before the last day of registration (drop/add) period will receive a refund of the amount paid. Refunds are based on the date contained on the Official Withdrawal Form.

Students completely withdrawing after the drop/add period will receive refunds as follows:

Declining balance portions of board plans will be refunded separately. The refund policy applies to complete withdrawals from UNCW.

Note: Before officially withdrawing, a student should understand financial implications.

UNCW Refund Policy – Summer School

Because of the short duration of summer school sessions, summer school charges are not refundable after the drop/add period. 

Residence Status for Tuition Purposes

In compliance with state law, the University of North Carolina system now requires students to request a residency classification from the new Residency Determination Service (RDS). RDS is the entity responsible for all new classifications of residency in North Carolina. 

The specific requirements for establishing residency for tuition purposes and for eligibility for State financial aid are prescribed by state law.  A North Carolina resident for tuition purposes (and for State financial aid consideration) is a person, or a dependent person (dependent according to IRS tax code – not the FAFSA definition of dependency), whose parent or legal guardian has established and maintained legal residence in North Carolina for at least 12 months. 

Residence in North Carolina must be legitimate and be a permanent situation rather than just for the purpose of maintaining a residence prior to enrollment at an institution of higher education.

To learn more about residency and/or complete a determination go to www.NCresidency.org.

Under North Carolina law, to qualify for in-state residency, you must show that you:

• Have established your legal residence (domicile) in North Carolina, and
• Have maintained that domicile for at least twelve (12) consecutive months before the beginning of the term, and
• Have a residentiary presence in the state, and
• Intend to make North Carolina your permanent home indefinitely (rather than being in North Carolina solely to attend college). 

Persons not meeting the 12-month legal residence requirement may be classified as North Carolina residents for tuition purposes only if they fall within one of the limited “exception” categories authorized by the North Carolina Legislature. All others are ineligible for classification as a North Carolina “resident for tuition purposes” and will be charged out-of-state tuition and not be given consideration for State financial aid. To learn more about residency and complete a determination go to www.NCresidency.org.

In order for your residency determination to affect the tuition rate for your current term at UNCW, your RDS Reconsideration request must be complete (all data and documentation turned in) and your request submitted with an RDS effective date on, or before, the 30^th calendar day of the current semester, starting with the first day of classes for the semester. Reconsideration requests completed and submitted with an RDS effective date after the 30^th calendar day affect the tuition rate for subsequent terms, not the current term. Please refer to this calendar of events to determine the “classes begin” day for the semester under reconsideration: https://www.uncw.edu/reg/calendars-events.html.