Financial Aid FAQs

The tuition deposit must be paid via the online application system using a credit card. No other payment type is accepted.

To request a deferral, an admitted MA student must first accept the initial offer of admission by completing the Acceptance Attestation Form and paying the tuition deposit. If a deferral is granted (deferral eligibility), an updated Acceptance Attestation Form and a second tuition deposit will be required at a later date. Both tuition deposits will be credited against your tuition and fee charges during the first semester of your enrollment.

No, regardless of your expected funding sources, a tuition deposit paid via a credit card payment is required.

A ‘Residence Unit’ is an enrollment category each GSAS student must register for in order to achieve the number required for degree conferral. The Residence Unit you register for is what drives the correct tuition and fees to be charged to your account.

Full-time students are automatically enrolled in the Columbia Student Medical Insurance Plan. Students with comparable external insurance may submit a waiver to Columbia Health documenting proof of equivalent insurance coverage. More information on the waiver process can be found here.

Yes. The Health Services Fee is mandatory and automatically billed to each GSAS student, regardless of the insurance coverage selection, to allow access to various on-campus health services. More information can be found here.

Completing the FAFSA as a graduate student does not determine the awarding of financial aid or scholarships. However, completing the FAFSA may still be required depending on if a student plans to borrow federal loans or engage in federal work-study opportunities.

Student who anticipate borrowing federal funds, either through Federal Loans or Federal Work-Study, must file the FAFSA for the academic year they will be borrowing. Students who do not plan to borrow federal funds need not file a FAFSA.

All applicants offered admission to a PhD program for which the application process is administered by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences receive full university fellowships. Fellowship information for doctoral students can be found here.

MA students often finance their education through a combination of loans (whether federal or private), work-study, or external fellowship options. Because the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is unable to offer fellowship awards to Master’s Degree students and departmental scholarship funding is limited, MA students are encouraged to consider external funding opportunities. Financing information for MA students can be found here.

Information regarding Student Employment can be found here.

Information regarding Federal Work-Study can be found here.