UMass Boston

To promote student success and to help students better understand and meet their financial obligations, UMass Boston has recently aligned registration, billing, payment, and estimated financial aid timelines.

Starting in Fall 2023, the university updated internal processes to provide cost, aid, billing information, and access to payment plans earlier than ever, allowing students and families more time to understand and prepare financially for the upcoming term.

UMass Boston is now working with students to establish a “Plan to Pay” with the university to pay their bill each semester.  A Plan to Pay can include financial aid, signing up for a payment plan, third party payments, scholarships and direct payment.

Our goal is to support students in taking the steps necessary to access federal, state, and institutional aid, to help them understand their bill, and to have a financial plan in place each semester. This initiative helps students avoid financial trouble by taking on a payment burden they can’t handle and helping them to have access to the greatest amount of aid possible. It also prevents students from having debt compound from one semester to the next. Since its start in 2023, the initiative has reduced university accounts receivable by nearly 20 percent, decreasing past-due balances owed to UMass Boston each semester by up to one-third. Fall semester holds for balances owed (PD1) decreased by 25 percent between Fall 2023 and Fall 2024.

The university has established comprehensive outreach and support efforts to assist students through this change, including clear communication, intentional FAFSA campaigns, and specialized help and planning. 

Our hope is that this initiative enables students to be in a better position to pay for college and reduces the anxiety many students experience when confronted with paying for it.