University/Program Specific Fees Glossary
Please see below for a description of University and Program Specific Fees.
Admission/Tuition Deposit Fees
Some colleges/programs require applicants who are accepted into the program to submit a deposit to ensure that only students who are genuinely interested in enrolling at Iowa accept the offer of admission. At Iowa, the Dentistry DDS, Physical Therapy DPT, Law JD, MBA, Medicine MD, PharmD, Radiation Sciences, and Nuclear Medicine Technology programs have admission/tuition deposit fees. The Physician Assistant programs has a two-stage admission/tuition deposit, the first deposit is due within two weeks of acceptance with the second deposit due by May 15 of the admission year.
Background Check Fee - Students/Patient Care
This fee is charged to conduct criminal background checks for all students involved in patient care. These students must undergo a criminal background check prior to beginning clinical rotations.
CLEP Score Report Fee
A UI student may request that a copy of their CLEP score report be mailed to another institution. This fee covers the cost of processing the request.
Tippie College of Business
Executive MBA Program
This program fee for the Executive MBA program is a 2-year total charge.
Extension Courses (per credit hour)
Listed are the tuition rates for students enrolled in extension/continuing education courses or programs offered by the Tippie College of Business. Included in the listing are: MBA for Professionals & Managers, CIMBA (Consortium Institute for Management & Business Analysis), Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics, and MS degree in Business Analytics. The rates are on a per credit hour basis.
College of Dentistry
American Student Dental Association Dues
This fee represents the dues for DDS students to belong to the American Dental Education Association. It is merely a pass through from the national group to the students.
Certificate Programs (per year)
The College of Dentistry charges a certificate fee to those students enrolled in the listed specialized programs.
Instrument Management System Fee
This fee, applicable to DDS and graduate students, covers the management, sterilization and replacement of dental equipment used in the treatment of patients.
Endodontics
The College of Dentistry has established an instrument/imaging/device fee for graduate students in Endodontics. In order to remain one of the top Endodontics graduate programs in the country, it is imperative that cutting edge technology related to instrumentation, imaging and devices be maintained. The majority of programs across the country require their residents purchase their own instruments and materials thereby limiting learning experiences and exposure to different techniques. This fee is based upon the costs incurred by the College to provide its students with hands-on training with the very latest technology.
Laboratory Supplies Fee (1st and 2nd year)
This fee covers supplies (teeth, burs, etc.) used by DDS students in the simulation clinic during the first 2 years of dental school. The simulation clinic utilizes mannequins to simulate patient experiences. The students develop the technical skills in this environment before moving on to actual patient care.
Professional Liability Insurance (4th year)
This fee covers DDS students for malpractice while they serve their extramural rotations outside of the college.
Iowa Dental Advanced Standing Program Interview and Evaluation
Applicants to the Iowa Dental Advanced Standing Program (IDASP) have been trained in foreign dental schools.
Training and skill levels vary widely between dental schools. To determine the applicant’s knowledge, technical skills and communications skills an extensive personal interview is required. The interview process for the DDS program is one-half day. By contrast, the IDASP interview will be conducted over three days. This interview will require not only expense related to materials and supplies but also significant faculty time. Faculty interviews will be conducted on day one, knowledge exams will be administered on day two. These exams assess the applicant’s knowledge in all areas of dentistry and represent the core knowledge expected of traditional students when they enter the third year in their DDS education. Day three will give the applicants the opportunity to demonstrate their hand skills by completing specific simulations exercises. This fee is necessary to cover the costs associated with this extensive interview process.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Applied Dance
The fee is charged to students in applied dance classes and is used to purchase specialized dance studio supplies, equipment, maintenance of the specialized equipment and the costs of musicians who accompany in applied dance classes.
Online Master of Social Work Program Fee
This fee is used to fund mentors, related mentor expenses, and an annual Summer Institute for the School of Social Work’s Hybrid MSW program. The Hybrid MSW is available to students in Iowa and bordering states. It is a three-year, cohort-based, part-time program. It is considered a hybrid program because students meet three times per year; however, the vast majority of the program is delivered on-line.
College of Education
Education - e-Portfolio (per selected course)
This fee is utilized to assist students in the College of Education to develop their “e-portfolio,” a web-based system designed to meet mandated standards and performance assessment requirements. It combines the integration of technologies, academic coursework, field experience, and a skills-based hiring tool for professional advancement.
On-line Masters in Education Programs (per credit hour)
The UI College of Education offers on-line Masters in Education programs to support the needs of professionals who would like to continue their education and earn an advanced degree without having to leave their home or interrupt their career to return to school. These on-line master's degrees can typically be completed in 18 to 24 months, and are offered in eight-week sessions, with five rolling start dates throughout the year, to offer flexibility and accommodate working students' commitments to employment while pursuing a graduate degree. The College currently offers a Master of Art in Teaching, Leadership and Cultural Competency and is poised to offer a second program – Master of Science in STEM Education. This fee applies to all programs that meet all of the following criteria: 1) are offered completely on-line, 2) are offered in eight-week sessions, and 3) students can enter the program at the start of any course offering, typically five times per year.
REACH Program
The University of Iowa R·E·A·C·H (Realizing Educational and Career Hopes) program is a unique two-year certificate program for young adults with multiple learning and cognitive disabilities; a third-year option is also available. The R·E·A·C·H Program combines academic instruction, career experiences, community involvement, and residential life to create a dynamic collegiate experience. Through the R·E·A·C·H Program, students are empowered and provided with the skills necessary to become independent, productive, and fully participating adults living and working in the community. R·E·A·C·H Program fees include a processing fee to evaluate candidates for this program and an acceptance fee for those students who are accepted into the program who wish to evidence their intent to actually enroll in the program. A portion of the acceptance fee is used to offset a portion of the first semester’s program costs.
College of Engineering
Master of Science in Engineering and Information Technology (MSEIT)
The Master of Science in Engineering and Information Technology (MSEIT) is a program offered in the Quad Cities (Davenport). The MSEIT program is intended to provide a rigorous, yet broadly accessible, platform for practicing BS-level engineers and Bachelors-level graduates from other related disciplines to obtain advanced training in contemporary engineering and information technology areas. Rather than narrowly focusing in one area, the MSEIT program will provide a breadth of exposure to areas that are key to the design, implementation, and manufacturing of complex, smart systems. This exposure will include coursework in software engineering, networking, cloud computing, machine learning, robotics, advanced manufacturing, testing/quality assurance, and associated legal, regulatory, environmental, and ethical issues. The fee supports the development and offering of this degree program.
Carver College of Medicine
Listed is the tuition rate for students enrolled in the extension course offered by the College – Medical Physiology Online. The rate is on a per credit hour basis.
Professional Liability Insurance (2nd, 3rd and 4th year MD students)
Medical students interact with patients during their training and are routinely required by out-of-state health facilities to have medical liability insurance during their rotations at these out-of-state locations. These students also see patients at UIHC and other in-state locations. The state of Iowa insures employees working at state institutions such as UIHC, however students are not considered employees in this setting; thus, the need for this fee to fund liability coverage for medical students.
Radiation Sciences Clinical Assessment Fee
The Radiation Sciences baccalaureate program within the Carver College of Medicine has established a clinical assessment fee. This fee is used to pay for a clinical performance evaluation and time tracking program that is provided by a third-party vendor. The proprietary software provides students and faculty with a number of tools that increase the efficiency of the clinical performance evaluation process and increases the ease and consistency in which these processes are carried out.
Professional Liability Insurance – Physician Assistant Program
Students in the Physician Assistant Program participate in clinical rotations in their fifth and sixth semesters. Following the precedent for both MD and DDS students, this fee covers the cost of professional liability insurance for these students.
Physical Therapy – Program Fee
This fee will cover: (a) supplies and instruments utilized and (b) a range of academic and professional development activities required of students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. Included in the fee are: laboratory supplies, dues to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), APTA-sponsored section meeting fees and costs, practice exam and assessment tool costs, online lecture/coursework, background checks. Assessment of this fee in this manner will allow these costs to be included in a student’s financial aid package.
Physician Assistants Program – Clinical Training Fee
This fee will be utilized to develop and maintain required clinical sites for students in the Physician Assistants program and to remain competitive in securing sufficient clinical rotations where there is significant competition for these sites.
College of Nursing
Nursing Simulation Lab Equipment Fee
This fee addresses the non-consumable equipment needs of the Nursing Clinical Education Center (NCEC). The simulated clinical areas in the NCEC contain high-fidelity patient mannequins for which cases unfold based upon realistic patient care situations. Simulated data drives the mannequins' physiology, and responses to the student caretaker's interventions. As case scenarios evolve through the semester, students can continue to use the skills laboratory to refresh or increase their competency level at every step in the educational program.
Many of the items wear out from heavy use. Even equipment such as hospital beds will have unique technology aspects which must be updated regularly, meaning they have an "educational lifespan" which may be shorter or longer than that assigned for tax purposes. The equipment items have useful "educational lives" from one (replacement arms) to twenty years (commodes), with the average life being 9.9 years. Assigning a useful "educational life" allows students to learn on up-to-date equipment, while at the same time maintaining fiscal responsibility. The fee is derived by taking each piece of equipment, assigning an educational lifespan in years (when possible we used the UI Capital Assets Management lifespan), then using a depreciation model to figure the replacement costs by year and treating those replacement costs as expected future expenditures. These values are applied to a capital expense model to estimate future income needs.
The Student Professional Liability Insurance Fee is designed to provide nursing students with the required personal liability insurance at a much lower rate than rates available to students individually.
National Student Nurse Association Dues are assessed to nursing students to gain membership to the NSNA, a national organization that mentors the professional development of future registered nurses and facilitates their entrance into the profession by providing educational resources, leadership opportunities, and career guidance. Students may opt of this fee.
College of Pharmacy
Assured Admission (per semester fee)
A per semester fee is proposed to be assessed to students in each semester they are enrolled in the UI’s new Assured Admission program for the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree. This fee will be used to cover the costs of the PharmCas Application waiver as well as cover costs associated with special programming for these students (e.g., review sessions for the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT), mentoring, special events). PharmCas is a centralized application service sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy which allows a student to apply to multiple PharmD programs across the nation. The Assured Admission pathway for Doctor of Pharmacy students will allow students to be admitted to the College of Pharmacy right out of high school. These students will be provided with additional resources such as entrance exam and application preparation to ensure the admissions metrics continue to be similar or above peer institutions. One of the goals of the Assured Admission program is to reduce the time to graduation for these students by finishing prerequisite coursework within two years.
Palliative Care Certificate Program
This fee would be used to offset the costs associated with additional faculty needed to offer eleven semester hours of new coursework to offer this certificate in palliative care. The palliative care coursework includes classroom instruction and individual work with students to coordinate focused service activities, conducting research and generating manuscripts, developing educational materials for palliative care teams, developing professional leadership initiatives, and developing individualized professional development plans. Fees will also be used to offset costs of technology to develop training materials.
College of Public Health
Dual Degree Fee for MPH/DVM Students
Since 2003, the UI College of Public Health (CPH) has offered a combined Master of Public Health/Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (MPH/DVM) degree program in collaboration with Iowa State University (ISU). UI Master of Public Health students who are not in combined programs are assessed a tuition supplement of $6000. Since the MPH/DVM combined students do not pay a tuition supplement when they are enrolled at ISU, they are only being assessed half of the total tuition supplement ($3000) for the UI summer sessions. However, as MPH students, they derive the same benefits from the tuition supplement funds as students who pay the full amount.
To assure student equity and to recover funding essential to the mission of the MPH program, students in the combined MPH/DVM program are assessed a flat fee of $3000 to make up the difference between the actual tuition supplement collected ($3000) and the total tuition supplement other students pay ($6000). A portion of this fee is assessed each semester a student enrolls at UI and is not paying UI tuition. Since students generally take six 3 credit hour courses in this manner, a flat fee of $500 is assessed for each semester the student takes a 3 credit hour course at UI, when also enrolled at ISU ($500 X 6=$3000).
Dual Degree Fee for MPH Students in Combined SUI Degree Program
The UI College of Public Health Master of Public Health (MPH) program offers combined degrees with the UI Colleges of Law, Pharmacy, Medicine, and Nursing. MPH students who are not in combined programs are assessed a tuition supplement of approximately $6,000 over the course of their studies. Law, Pharmacy, Medicine and Nursing combined students do not pay the MPH tuition supplement since they are assessed tuition for their respective primary degree. However, as MPH students, they derive the same benefits from the tuition supplement funds as non-combined MPH students. To assure student equity and to recover funding essential to the mission of the MPH program, all MPH students in a combined SUI degree program are assessed a flat fee of $500 per semester whenever the student is enrolled in MPH courses and not designated as an MPH student for tuition purposes.
EMHA – Executive Master of Health Administration
The College of Public Health has established a fee for the Executive Master of Health Administration program (EMHA).
The EMHA requires 45 hours of course credit and is typically achieved in two years. Courses are taught one at a time by faculty on-campus and supplemented by on-line resources. The teaching approach is case- and team-focused, with courses taught in the Spring and Fall semesters as well as during the Summer sessions.
The EMHA program is offered in a format that accommodates working students’ necessary commitments to employment while pursuing a graduate degree in health administration. The mission of the EMHA program is to provide working professionals with advanced knowledge and skills in the administration of healthcare organizations, emphasizing the leadership of inter-professional teams. An all-inclusive fee covers tuition, books, supplies, laptop computer, software, parking, meals, lodging, and participation in professional development activities.
Master of Public Health (MPH) for Practicing Veterinarians
For many practicing clinical veterinarians interested in pursuing careers in state and federal agencies, and within community health organizations, additional education and training public health is required. Veterinarians will require expertise in population health, occupational and environmental health, epidemiology, and health behavior and health promotion in order to tackle the complex health issues that impact people and their animals. However, practicing professionals are generally unable to completely shut down their practices or leave their employment in order to start a traditional, full-time Master of Public Health (MPH) program. The College of Public Health therefore has been offering an MPH sub-track designed specifically for practicing veterinarians who are interested in advancing their careers in veterinary public health. The MPH sub-track for practicing veterinarians is offered in a format that accommodates working students' commitments to employment while pursuing a graduate degree in public health. The entire curriculum is offered on-line except for four courses provided in an in-person condensed format during the first summer in Iowa City (UI College of Public Health) and during the second summer in Ames (ISU College of Veterinary Medicine). The program fee will cover the cost to operate the program. Operating costs include enrollment management, student residence (lodging and meals), faculty compensation, staff coordination, and collegiate administrative costs.
Healthcare Management Certificate (per credit hour)
The Healthcare Management Certificate (Certificate) provides working professionals an opportunity to gain expertise in the areas of healthcare management, leadership, policy, and finance without committing to a terminal degree. The Certificate utilizes five courses that are already taught as part of the Executive Master of Health Administration (EMHA) program. All 15 semester hours of the Certificate would count toward an MHA (via the EMHA program) should an individual decide to pursue the MHA degree after completion of the Certificate. The Certificate is consistent with the mission of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa to promote health and prevent injury and illness through a commitment to education and training, excellence in research, innovation in policy development, and devotion to public health practice. The Certificate requires 15 semester hours of course credit and will typically be completed within 15 months. The courses are taught in-person by faculty on Iowa City and Des Moines campuses and supplemented by on-line resources
Extension Courses (off-campus only) (per credit hour)
The College of Public Health offers off-campus undergraduate and graduate courses leading to graduate and professional degrees (e.g.: Masters of Health Administration, Masters of Public Health). Tuition rates are listed.
Hospital Certificate Technology Programs (per year)
Fee charged to students enrolled in UI Health Care Technology certificate programs.
International Students and Scholars
English Proficiency Examination
This fee covers the cost of administering the English Proficiency Evaluation (EPE) examination to new students whose first language is not English, to ensure that they have the requisite English language proficiency to succeed academically at UI.
Fall and Spring Semesters/Summer Session
This administrative fee provides funding for the special services required by international students, including immigration and personal advising, programming and outreach. The fee is charged to all students attending the UI in an education (F or J) immigration status.
Study Abroad Fees
Administrative Fee
This fee is assessed to students participating in a group study abroad program. This fee is in addition to the program fee they must pay. It covers various administrative costs associated with these programs, such as registration and special processing, which creates additional workload. The fee is greater for non-University of Iowa students.
Participation Fee
This fee is assessed when a student applies to participate in a University of Iowa-sponsored study abroad program. The fee covers the costs associated with processing applications and to ensure that the student has an investment in participation before applying for a study abroad program.