Skip to content ↓

Paying your bill: If you graduate or leave

Understand what you need to do before graduation or if you need to leave school, even temporarily.

If you are graduating

Your last billing statement will be posted to your account the month before graduation. You will need to pay that amount in full—plus any charges that accrue later in the month—or you will be placed on degree hold. If this happens, you will not receive your diploma or be allowed to participate in Commencement until you pay off your balance.

But fear not! We want to make sure that you are all squared away so that you can graduate on time! Please email the student accounts team at sfs@mit.edu and we will work with you to resolve your balance.

If your balance is not paid off by Commencement, you will be added to the degree list for a later term as a non-registered degree candidate once your balance is paid in full.

We will continue to send email reminders to your MIT email address for any money still owed after Commencement.

If you have a past-due balance on your student account for more than 30 days, your account may be sent to an outside agency. You may be reported to credit bureau agencies and may be responsible for any collection fees, including reasonable attorney’s fees that we incur in such collection efforts. We don’t want this to happen, so please reach out and we will do our best to help.

Leaving school

If you leave school for any reason (medical withdrawal, leave of absence, required withdrawal, etc.), even if you plan to return to MIT, you are still responsible for paying the full balance on your account. You can choose to make payment arrangements by emailing us at sfscollections@mit.edu.

You will not be able to re-enroll or register for classes until you have paid the balance on your account.

Student loans

If you have student loans, you should check the repayment conditions, as lenders require you to make payments when you are not in school after the grace period ends, even if you have not graduated.

You can find more information on leaving and returning to MIT on the registrar’s site.