Block Rate Tuition FAQs

Effective Fall 2020, University of Michigan-Dearborn is moving to a block tuition model. Under the block tuition, undergraduate students taking 12 credit hours or more will be charged a flat rate for tuition when a student enrolls in more than 12 credits in any one semester.

Students taking 11 or fewer credits will continue to be charged per credit hour.

Note: Course levels 300 and above are assessed an additional amount per credit hour and are not part of the block rate.

Our desire is to help students shorten the time to earn their degrees and assist with budgeting. This has been implemented as one of UM-Dearborn’s strategies to help students stay on target and encourages students to graduate in a timely fashion. In addition, potential benefits include saving additional years of tuition costs and other expenses related to attending college, reduction of student loan debt, and allowing for earlier entry into the workforce.

In-state students will see a 1.9 percent increase in tuition and fees, or $248 more per year.   Out-of-state undergraduate students will see an increase of 4.2 percent in tuition and fees, or $1,100 more than last year. These increases are applicable for students who have and continue to take at least 15 credits.

In transitioning to a block rate, returning students who have previously taken less than 15 credits will see various rate increases compared to last year.

However, the university has made a commitment to ensure that the net tuition of all in-state returning students, after aid, will be at or below the 1.9 percent increase for 2020-21.

For example, a student who took 12 credits in Winter 2020 would have been charged, prior to any course premiums, $6,328 in tuition and fees. Based on the new block rate, at 12 credits, they would be assessed $6,776 in tuition and fees for Fall 2020 (before premiums). However, for 2020-21, they will receive additional funding of $325 per semester from financial aid, resulting in a net paid amount of $6,451, which is a total net increase of 1.9 percent.

Students will still be responsible for the registration fee, course/laboratory fees, and any course premiums. However, in 2020-21, in addition to moving to a block rate, we are reducing the registration fee by $200 per semester and are not increasing the course premiums assessed to upper-level courses.

Yes, we are investing more than 11.8 percent in additional financial aid to assist current students. 

This includes additional funding to all undergraduate in-state students enrolled as of Winter 2020 to ensure they only pay a total net increase of 1.9 percent in tuition and fees as noted above.

Under the current per-credit tuition model, when students add or drop classes, their tuition costs change, and their financial aid package may be adjusted accordingly. With block rate tuition, students who add or drop classes but maintain 12 credits will not have their financial aid packages adjusted because their tuition costs will not change, (Premium course level assessment, which is not part of the block rate, could impact total costs.)

Students who enroll for less than 12 credits may receive less financial aid than students in the block rate category, due to having lower tuition costs. Students who change the number of credits they are enrolled in following their initial financial aid payment may have their financial aid adjusted to recognize their new higher or lower tuition costs. The exact amount of an increase or decrease will depend on the student’s specific aid package.

Block rate tuition applies to undergraduate degree-seeking students taking 12 or more credit hours in the fall, spring, or summer semesters.

• Undergraduate students who are taking less than 12 credits
• Graduate students
• Non-Degree Students

Yes, summer courses are included in block rate tuition, starting in summer 2021. The two summer sessions combined are considered one semester.

If a student maintains at least 12 credits in a semester, dropping or adding courses within that range will not result in a change in the cost of tuition. Additional course premium fees may apply to the particular courses that are added or dropped. 

If a student is originally enrolled in fewer than 12 credit hours, the tuition they are charged will be based on per-credit amounts. If a student adds a course that results in their enrollment being 12 or more than 12 credit hours, there will be an adjustment to their account to reflect block rate tuition.

If a student paying block rate tuition drops to fewer than 12 credit hours during the drop/add period, charges will be adjusted to remove block rate tuition and will reflect per-credit-hour charges for all coursework.