Student Accounts Frequently Asked Questions

No.  Your Shippensburg University bill is available online. All bills are provided electronically at myShip. You will NOT receive a paper bill in the mail. Students will receive an email, at their Shippensburg University email address, when the semester bill is available.

If you will not personally be paying your bill, it is your responsibility to get a copy of the bill to the person that will be paying (parent, guardian, trust, etc.) and to be sure it is paid on time!

To view your bill or to print a copy:

• Login to myship and
• Click on Student
• Choose Paying for College
• Click on Account Information/Pay Now
• Select the Term you want to view and click Submit
• This will take you to Account Detail for Term (real-time bill).

Bills not paid by the due date on the bill will be assessed a $100 late fee. Please be sure your payment arrives on time.

Payments may be made using the following methods:

1. Online
2. By Mail
3. In Person

Pay Online

Shippensburg University offers online payment options (e-checks, debit or credit cards) through our processor, ACI (formerly Official Payments, Inc.). ACI accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Students may pay online by e-check (ACH) with no fee or debit or credit card with a 2.49% service fee.

To make an online payment:

• Login to myShip with your Ship email and password
• Click on Student
• Choose Paying For College
• Click on Account Information/Pay Now
• Select the term you want to view and click Submit
• This will take you to Account Detail for Term (real-time bill)
• Click on the Pay Now button
• You will be directed to ACI to make your payment.

Paying online is the fastest way to make last minute payments to get your bill cleared by the due date! If you pay with a debit or credit card, you will see two transactions on your debit or credit card statement, one for the payment to Shippensburg University and the other for the 2.49% service fee to ACI. Depending on your bank, the service fee description on your debit or credit card statement will be similar to “OPC COL*SERVICE FEE”.

Payments by mail

Students who want to send payments by mail may do so by sending a check or money order along with a copy of your online bill to the Student Accounts Office. Checks are to be made payable to Shippensburg University. Payment must be in U.S. dollars and drawn on a U. S. bank. Postdated checks should not be submitted.

Payments in person

Check, money order and cash payments may be made in person at the Student Accounts Office in Old Main 100, weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. During the summer months and semester breaks the office closes at 4:00 PM. The university cannot accept credit or debit cards in person, by mail, or over the phone for tuition payments.

A fee of $35.00 will be charged when a check presented in payment, or an E-check, is not honored by the bank for any reason.

If your online bill has a zero or credit balance, action is still required by the due date! You must tell the University that you plan to attend by logging into the myShip website by the due date. Go to myShip and log in. For more detailed directions on how to clear your bill online go to https://www.ship.edu/Student_Accounts/Online_Bill_Payment_Information/ . You may also inform the University that you plan to attend by returning a copy of your online bill.

If you do not PAY or CLEAR your bill by the due date, a $100 late fee will be assessed and schedule cancellation may apply.

If you wish to deduct any scholarships or third party financial aid that is not currently showing on the online bill, you must print out the online bill, make a notation of the aid being deducted, and mail the bill with remaining amount due to the Student Accounts Office. You may still pay the net amount online if you prefer; however, you must mail in the bill to show the deductions you made to the payment amount.

Students who are sponsored by a third party employer, government, military or outside organization, for all or a portion of tuition and fees, can have the third party billed directly by submitting sponsor-required paperwork or a letter from the sponsor to the Student Accounts office. The letter must state the specific charges the sponsor will pay and the name and address where the bill should be sent. The student must pay any remaining portion of the bill by the original due date stated on the bill.

Students who receive direct employer reimbursement who wish to defer payment of tuition must complete an EMPLOYER REIMBURSEMENT TUITION DEFERMENT APPLICATION form. This form is located at https://www.ship.edu/Student_Accounts/Forms/. Tuition only can be deferred and all fees must be paid. The $100 late fee will apply to students who do not pay the fees or who mail the completed form to the Student Accounts Office AFTER the bill due date.

Graduate students who have been approved for Grad Assistantships may deduct the amount of tuition from their online bill before submitting payment. Grad assistantships do not cover fees.

If you will be using a college savings plan to pay all or a part of your online bill, a copy of the online bill must be returned to the Student Accounts Office with paperwork showing the amount to be received from the plan. You may take a deduction for the approved amount you will receive and pay any difference due.

Please note that students are ultimately responsible for full payment of their tuition and fees should any third party sponsors, donors or employer fail to remit payment on their behalf.

If you are scheduled for less than 6 credits in the semester, you will not be eligible for any federal direct loans (Stafford, Grad Plus, or Parent Plus) even if these loans are currently showing as pending on your bill. To be eligible for these loans you must pick up additional credits for a total of at least 6 credits. Loan amounts are prorated based on the total number of credits scheduled in a semester.

If you are an Academic Progress student, you must print a copy of your online bill, write AP on the bill and return it by the bill due date as confirmation that you are planning to attend. Failure to return a copy of the online bill by the due date will result in a late fee being added to your account. After grades are posted in August, the Financial Aid Office will re-evaluate your aid. If your financial aid completely covers your bill, then you will be automatically cleared for the semester. If aid does not completely cover your bill, you will be notified by the Student Accounts Office and you will be responsible for paying any remaining balance by the start of school.

This non-refundable check consists of $100.00 for your enrollment fee and $200.00 for your housing deposit. The $100.00 fee will be shown as a reduction of the amount due on your first semester bill. The university retains the housing deposit until the housing obligation is fulfilled. That $200.00 will show as a reduction on your Spring semester bill.

Shippensburg University partners with Nelnet to offer a convenient, secure and affordable payment plans.  Each payment plan will a down payment at the time of enrollment and a $40 nonrefundable enrollment fee.

Students are obligated to clear each semester bill by the due date set for each semester. If the payment plan is the method of payment, enrollment must be completed by the due date set for each semester.  Students may enroll for the payment via myShip.

To obtain more information on the payment plan, please click here or you may visit www.MyCollegePaymentPlan.com/ship.  You may also call the Student Accounts Office at 717-477-1211.

Each full time undergraduate student is charged the Ed Service, Health, Student Union, Activity, Recreation and Technology Tuition fees. Full time graduate students are charged the Ed Service, Health, Student Union, Activity and Technology Tuition fees. Part time students are charged prorated amounts of each fee. These fees are established and set by the State System of Higher Education's Board of Governors and/or Shippensburg University's Council of Trustees.

All of the below noted fees are mandatory and are also charged to all students taking internships and completing student teaching.  All students are required to pay these fees in order for the University to make these services available to the entire campus community.  These are NOT user fees and cannot be waived.

Student Activity Fee

This fee is paid by all full and part time undergraduate and graduate students to support the Shippensburg University Student Association (SA). The SA provides activities ranging from support of intercollegiate athletics to recreational and cultural programming. Such events are made available to all students, most without additional charge.

Student Success Fee
This fee is paid by all full and part-time matriculating undergraduate students with an admit term of Fall 2019 and after.  It is charged for all courses regardless of the geographic location of the course.  The Student Success fee supports the experiential learning programs that are offered outside of the classroom.  The fee provides funding to maintain areas such as the Learning Center, Student Retention Initiatives, Students First, Early Alert, MLK Program, First Year Experience and Community Engagement, Career Mentoring and Professional Development, Counseling Center, Connections Program, Student/Faculty Research, and Institutional Aid.  These programs contribute significantly to the total student experience and prepare SU students for success while enrolled and after graduation.  The Student Success fee provides funding to ensure that these vital programs remain available to all students. 

Student Union Fee

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State System's Board of Governors require that the cost of construction, operating and maintaining student union buildings on all State System campuses be paid by students enrolled at each campus. This fee, which is charged to all full and part time graduate and undergraduate students, is placed in a restricted fund specifically for expenses associated with the Ceddia Union Building. All students have access to activities in the CUB, including the University Store and snack bar.

Educational Services Fee

This fee, paid by all full and part-time graduate and undergraduate students, is restricted specifically for purposes of providing instructional and library equipment, materials, and supplies. It is used to purchase items such as classroom materials, library books, periodical subscriptions, media services and other instructional equipment. The Educational Service Fee is charged to all students for all courses regardless of the geographic location of the courses.

Recreation Fee

This fee is paid by all full and part-time undergraduate students. It is used to fund the construction, maintenance/operational and personnel costs related to the student recreation building and the outdoor recreational facilities.

Comprehensive Health Fee

This fee is paid by all full and part-time graduate and undergraduate students. It is used to finance, in part, the Etter Health Center and its various programs of treatments and education and the Counseling Center. Students have access to the services of the health center Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Under the policies of the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, auxiliary enterprises, such as health centers, must be financially self-sufficient. The Comprehensive Health Fee is not an insurance fee and must be paid whether or not the student has his/her own health insurance.

Technology Tuition Fee

This fee is established by the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education. The purposes of the technology tuition fee are

• to acquire, install and maintain up-to-date and emerging technologies for the purpose of enhancing student-learning outcomes
• to provide equitable access to technology resources
• to ensure that State System graduates are competitive in the technologically sophisticated workplace.

The technology tuition fee is not a user fee, but is instead a fee that is paid by all students, proportional to their enrollment status (full-time/part-time) and to their residency status (in-state/out-of-state).

Off Campus Support Fee

This fee is charged to help offset the costs of specialized support associated with teaching courses at unique off-campus sites. Such costs include proctor and courier services, mileage for faculty travel to off-campus locations, facility rental and support fees, and onsite support provided by Professional, Continuing and Distance Education (PCDE). This fee is charged to students taking courses at the following locations: Dixon UC, LIU, Milton Hershey School, HACC-Gettysburg, Hanover, York, Spring Grove and Northampton.

Orientation Fee

This fee is charged to all new undergraduate students in their first semester at the university and is payable even if the orientation program is not attended.

Field Placement Fee

This fee is charged to teacher certification students in Business, Arts and Science majors and the College of Education and Human Services. The fee is based on registration in particular courses and starts in the sophomore year. It is used to offset the cost of arranging field placements and supervision for candidates seeking teacher certification.

Placement Re-Testing Fee

This fee is charged to students who must re-take a placement exam. It is used to offset the cost of the exam itself and the personnel time associated with it.

Common Damage Fee

This fee is charged to all students residing in campus housing to help cover the cost of repairs for damages in the common areas of the dorms.

The meal plan listed on your online bill defaults to the plan you had during the previous semester. You can add a meal plan or change the plan online by following these instructions Instructions for changing your meal plan online. You can also make a meal plan change by printing a copy of your on-line bill, notating the change on the bill, and mailing it to Student Accounts.

Please refer to the meal plans section of our web site to review the various meal plans that are available.

Meal plans may be changed online through the Sunday before the start of the semester. Once the semester begins meal plan changes must be made through the Student Accounts Office. Increases to meal plans may be made at any time throughout the semester. Decreases in meal plans can only be made through the 2^nd week of the semester.

Please note that students living on campus must choose one of the Resident Student Meal Plans.

Refer to the Financial Aid section of the web site to learn more about the various sources of financial aid available.

Consider the Shippensburg University prepayment plan described above.

For extenuating circumstances, call the Students Accounts Office at 717-477-1211.

If expected financial aid is not showing on your bill, you should first access your Student Financial Aid portal to see why your application may be incomplete. Go to http://www.ship.edu/ss and follow the instructions. If you have remaining questions regarding your financial aid after you have checked your portal, they should be directed to the Financial Aid Office at 717-477-1131 or finaid@ship.edu. Once you have verified that you have financial aid, you should print out the online bill, write your eligible aid on the bill, deduct it from the amount due and mail the adjusted bill to the Student Accounts Office. You may still pay the net amount online if you prefer; however, you must mail in the bill to show the deductions you made to the payment amount.

If you are expecting a parent PLUS loan, private Alternative loan or private scholarship that is not showing on your online bill or under Awards on the Financial Aid student portal, you may deduct those amounts from the payment made on the online bill; however, you must submit documentation of your loan approval or scholarship with a copy of your online bill to the Student Accounts Office.

All students who have anticipated Federal Stafford Loans or Federal Perkins Loans on their online bills will NOT receive those loans until both the Master Promissory Note (MPN) and an entrance interview are done. If the required documents are not completed, the loans will be removed as pending aid on your account and any remaining amounts will need to be paid by the student.

If you have completed a Federal Stafford and/or Federal PLUS Loan MPN and wish to reduce or cancel the loan amount, you must notify the Financial Aid Office in writing.

Students with less than 6 credits are NOT ELIGIBLE for Federal Stafford or Federal PLUS loans.

PLEASE NOTE that students are ultimately responsible for full payment of their tuition and fees should their financial aid not be received.

Loan disbursements start to arrive approx 10 days prior to the first day of classes. The disbursements, which are electronically transferred to the university, continue throughout the semester. Most loans arrive within the first month. Grants and Perkins loans are generally disbursed within the first two months of the semester.

When your financial aid arrives, you will be sent a notification of disbursement. Your aid is applied to your account as it comes in. When your semester balance is paid in full, refund checks will be generated. All refunds checks will be mailed to local addresses along with the notification of disbursement. It is very important to keep your local address up to date with the university. You can verify and update your address by calling the Registrar's office at 717-477-1136 or emailing them at registr@ship.edu. Also, during the semester, address changes can be made online by logging into myship at https://portal.ship.edu.

If your “Account Detail for Term” shows a credit print it and take it to your landlord. Many landlords will accept this as proof of your refund and ability to pay. However, not all landlords are willing to wait for payment even if you are receiving a refund. It is the students responsibility to work with their landlord, ahead of time, on rent payment terms.