Dear UMBC Students,
Thank you for your patience as we navigated systems and created a process to administer refunds to students and families for costs paid for services and facilities they can no longer access given the University’s necessary shift to distance education due the COVID-19 pandemic. While these service contracts and licenses have been terminated due to the COVID-19 force majeure event, we found it appropriate and reasonable to reimburse students and families. As we shared at the end of March, the University System of Maryland Board of Regents gave us their approval to refund room, board, and certain fees, on a pro rata basis.
We are pleased to announce that refund amounts will be credited to student accounts by Monday, April 20 and most students will receive refunds within the next two weeks. UMBC students will receive a prorated refund for on-campus housing and meal plans and the following fees: Athletic, University Commons, Auxiliary Facilities, Transportation, and 50 percent of the prorated Undergraduate Student Activities fee and Graduate Program fee. Details on our calculations are provided below.
Your refund will be posted as a credit to your student account, and will be applied first to any outstanding balances. Remaining balances will be disbursed to students using BankMobile, our refund partner, through your preselected refund preference.
We appreciate BankMobile’s partnership in signing up large numbers of our students so that you can receive your refund quickly. If you are among the very few students who have not already done so, instructions for selecting a refund preference can be found here. Electronic delivery of refunds is the fastest and most secure method of receiving your funds.
If you have questions, please submit a help ticket to Student Business Services.
Lynne Schaefer, Vice President, Finance and Administration, and Nancy Young, Vice President for Student Affairs
Co-Chairs, UMBC Crisis Management Executive Team
Refund Calculations
Mandatory Fees Refund
UMBC is refunding 55% of the total Athletic, University Commons, Auxiliary Facilities, and Transportation fees. This calculation is based on 59 distance education days out of 107 semester days. Refunds will not be issued for the Technology fee as these services are still available and in use by students.
The undergraduate Student Activities fee and the Graduate Program fee are being refunded at 27.5%, half of 55%. This is at the request of the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Association, as student organizations are still receiving and using the funds provided by these fees for the benefit of students.
Housing Refund
Residential Life refunds are prorated by calculating the daily room rate (Semester Rate /115 days in the semester). Refunds reflect the days that Residential Life was unable to honor the terms of the housing license, based on student’s assignment in either a 9-month or 8-month community. Students that were approved to remain on campus will receive a refund calculated based on their last day of occupancy.
Nine-month housing permits students to remain during break periods. These students vacated campus on March 14, 2020 and had 67 unavailable days. These communities include: West Hill, Terrace, Hillside, Potomac and designated Harbor rooms.
Eight-month housing requires students to vacate during break periods. These students left during the normal break closing period, but were unable to return as planned on March 23. They had 58 unavailable days. These communities include: Patapsco, Susquehanna, Chesapeake, Erickson, and designated Harbor Hall rooms.
The housing refund does not include the $175 semester communication fee that covers Xfinity Streaming IPTV which continues to be available to students.
Walker Avenue Apartments are managed by CapStone On-Campus Management, who will directly issue prorated refunds to eligible residents. Room charges for Walker Avenue Apartments are not posted to student accounts and will be managed by CapStone.
Meal Plan Refund
Student Recurring meal plan refunds are based on the daily rate for Spring 2020. Meal plans were scheduled to resume on March 22 when students would have moved back to campus, which left 60 days remaining in the Spring 2020 semester that will be credited as refunds.
Recurring meal plan daily rates are as follows: Ultimate - $21.52; Savvy 16 - $21.29; Flexible 14 - $23.54; Terrific 12 - $18.39; Flexible 10 - $19.58; and the Flexible 5 - $7.90.
Student Block meal plans are based on the remaining number of meals not used from the plan purchased. The per meal rate for Block Plans are as follows:
- Super 225 - $ 9.13
- Mega 50 - $ 9.52
- Mini 25 - $10.12
In addition, refunded amounts will include any remaining meal plan flex dollar balances.
For questions concerning meal plan refunds, please submit a help request.
