This is how we refer to transactions on your bill—a charge is any amount being subtracted from your account to pay for billed costs; a credit is any amount being added to your account to cover billed costs.
If your MITPay account shows a balance, it means that you owe money. If this is the case, you can pay off your balance using many different payment options. If your MITPay account balance is negative, it means that you have overpaid and have a credit on your account. You can choose to apply your credit toward future bills, or request a refund if you would like the credit deposited into your bank account.
Charges
Charges are costs that you owe to MIT, such as tuition, fees, health insurance, housing (if living on campus), dining, TechCASH, and any other expenses that you incur during the semester.
The charges on your student account originate from different MIT departments. We are responsible for billing you for those charges, but if you need more information about a specific charge, you should contact that department directly.
Only the department that made the original charge can adjust charges. Department contacts are included on your bill in MITPay.
If you want to formally dispute a charge, you must contact customer service via email within 60 days of the date of the statement where the charge first appeared.
Credits
Credits are funds that are added to your account in order to pay off your balance. Credits include things like your MIT Scholarship, any outside scholarships, grants, and loans.
There are two types of financial aid credits on your student account—an anticipated credit and an actual credit. Both reduce the balance of your bill.
- Anticipated credits are funds that we expect to receive, but have not yet received or applied to your account. On your bill, anticipated credits can also be displayed as memoed financial aid.
- Actual credits are funds that we have received and applied to your account.
If we have not received your anticipated credits by the 15th day of the term, they are removed from your account balance. If this happens, you should contact customer service for next steps on how to receive the aid.