Paying for the cost of a degree requires fiscal planning as well as sound financial tools and a commitment on our part to providing financial customer services.

The GW Office of Student Accounts is responsible for all student billing. Bills are sent electronically in July for the fall semester and in December for the spring semester. All direct costs of attendance, such as tuition, fees, room and board, are due each semester on the first day of classes and can be paid by a variety of options: online check payment, wire transfer, personal check, traveler’s check and money order. Specifics regarding billing and payment are found on the Colonial Central web page.

GW Monthly Payment Plan

The GW Monthly Payment Plan allows GW students and their parents to spread out annual college costs (tuition, fees, housing and meals) across more manageable monthly installments.

GW has partnered with ECSI to manage the payment plan. The monthly payment plan allows payments to be spread over up to ten months per year. The first payment for the fall semester is due in June, and the first payment for the spring semester is due in November. As long as the sum of your payments covers each semester balance, you are not subject to interest or late fees. For more information, visit ECSI here. 

Payment of Financial Aid

Except for Federal Work-Study, loans and outside scholarships, financial aid administered by the Office of Student Financial Assistance is usually applied automatically to the student’s account at the beginning of each semester. The following awards are deducted from the bill: University scholarships and grants, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Pell Grants, and Federal SEOG. Other aid, such as state grants, Federal Direct Stafford Loans and private scholarships and loans cannot be credited to your account until the funds are received. Federal Work-Study funds are not applied to your account: funds are paid as wages based on the number of hours the student worked.

Paying for College

A college education is one of the most significant investments you can make, and financing a private college education is an important family commitment. GW has been recognized at the national level for its proactive steps to address the challenges of financing post-secondary education, and we invite you to learn more about the opportunities you have to make a GW education possible. We believe that an education at the George Washington University will provide you with a world-class education and life-changing experience that you will not find anywhere else. We work to make a GW education a possibility for every family and encourage you to explore the benefits of studying at the George Washington University.

Our unique fixed tuition plan enables every family to know the cost of tuition for the entire academic career of their student. So while tuition at other colleges and universities is subject to annual increases, the cost of a GW education – once set – remains constant. In addition, GW offers a generous program of need-based awards – a combination of federal and GW funds – and merit-based scholarships. Our guaranteed-financial assistance program gives families a measure of certainty in forecasting need-based financial aid packages from year to year.