Skip to main content

Activity Fee

The Graduate School (TGS) student activity fee helps offset the cost of services that are requested by graduate students and funded by TGS. This includes the U-Pass transit program, TGS Legal Services, and graduate student organization funding.

Students who are enrolled full-time (at least three units) in eligible courses are charged an activity fee of $125 per quarter. Students enrolled in the Online Master of Arts in Counseling Program through The Family Institute, TGS 512 (continuous registration), TGS 514, or a co-op internship are not charged an activity fee and are not eligible for the services it provides during the quarter(s) in which they are enrolled in any of these categories.

The activity fee is not covered by a TGS student's funding package, and students are responsible for paying the fee in a timely manner. Students can access their balance due and payment history via CAESAR > For Students > Financial Services > View My E-Bill & E-Payment. Payments may be made online in CAESAR. Students may also contact Student Finance or visit the Student Finance Office their office at 555 Clark Street on the Evanston campus for assistance.

Activity Fee FAQS

Activity fee waiver

TGS students who are studying abroad or living outside of the Chicago area for the duration of an academic quarter(s) are eligible to request that their activity fee be waived for that quarter(s). The waiver is not applied automatically and must be requested by students.

Students may request the activity fee waiver by completing the activity fee waiver form. Once the fee is waived, students will not be eligible for the services it provides for that quarter(s), including U-Pass. Students may not opt out of paying the activity fee unless they are eligible for an activity fee waiver.

TGS students may apply for an activity fee waiver for the current quarter up to three weeks after the first day the quarter begins. This time frame enables TGS to remove these students from the active U-Pass list supplied to Ventra, our U-Pass provider, and not pay for unused transit cards. At the time of the request, a waiver may be submitted for the current quarter, plus one or more of the next three future consecutive quarters with program approval. This enables TGS to apply a credit to the student's account at the same time the activity fee is charge, minimizing out-of-pocket expenses and potential late fees.