Money Matters for New Macalester Students

Billing statements are produced monthly and delivered to students electronically, beginning in mid-July. Students may set up Authorized Users (parents, guardians, others) who will also be notified about monthly billing statements.

If students wish to have Authorized Users, it’s a good idea to set them up before the first fall semester billing statement is produced in mid-July (but it can be done any time). Instructions and more information are available on the Student Accounts website.

The first billing statements for the academic year are produced in mid-July and payment is due on August 15.

Financial aid recipients may have forms of financial aid that cannot be applied to their account at the time the billing statement is created (Federal Student Aid, Minnesota State Grants, for example). This is perfectly normal and is not a problem. As long as all forms and steps have been completed to apply for these forms of financial aid, anticipated financial aid will show on the billing statement and will be subtracted from the balance due.

More information about billing is available here.

Mac Money can be added to a student’s account so that they may charge expenses using their ID card. Mac Money can be used at The Highlander (campus book store), at the Information Desk, in vending machines, and at all campus Bon Appetit dining locations.

Instructions and more Mac Money information can be found here.

Macalester offers an optional monthly payment plan which enables families to make monthly payments rather than one payment for each semester. Payment plans can be designed to begin in June, July, or August (returning students also have a  depending on the number of monthly payments.

More information about payment plan options is available here.

All Macalester students are required to have health insurance. For this reason, a charge for Macalester student health insurance will appear on each student’s billing statement in mid-July.

Students who have a non-Macalester health insurance policy that will provide appropriate coverage may waive Macalester’s student health insurance policy beginning in June, 2023 and with a deadline in mid-August, 2023. The charge for Macalester student health insurance will be removed for students who waive Macalester student health insurance by the deadline.

More information is available on the Hamre Center website.

Students who have applied for financial aid will receive guidance from the Financial Aid Office in late May/early June. There are few things that financial aid recipients need to do to put student loans in place, secure a student employment position, and/or finalize their financial aid eligibility. Each student is different, so the instructions from the financial aid office will be customized based on each student’s situation.

Financial aid to-do items are also listed in each student’s portal.

Questions may be directed to the Financial Aid Office.

Students who will utilize student loans that are part of their financial aid package must accept those loans. Macalester students do this at 1600grand.macalester.edu. Students may accept all or part of the loan.

Students who have student employment as part of their financial aid package should apply for a job in June.