Sample Bill

The following sample bill is intended to represent a typical Cornell University Bursar bill. Actual charges or credits will vary for each student. Your actual bursar bill may not look exactly like this one.

 If you have any further questions, please contact  Bursar Account Services. 

A. Due Date: Your payment for the total amount is due on this date and must be received and posted to your account by this date to avoid finance charges.

B. ID Number: This is the student's six-digit Cornell University Student Identification number that is also used as the bursar account number.

C. Bursar Amount Due: This amount includes current charges minus actual credits and pending credits, plus any previous balance. Note: Federal regulations forbid deduction of financial aid or pending credits from previous semester balances.

D. CornellCard Amount Due: This is the total of all current transactions, the unpaid previous balance, and any finance charges on the CornellCard account. All balances must be paid to zero before the start of each semester.

E. Total Amount Due: This is the sum of your bursar amount due and CornellCard amount due.

F. Billing Date: This is the date the bill is created and sent to print.

G. First Message Line: This line will contain important information regarding the current bill.

H. Transaction Date: Entries in this column are the dates that the charges or credits were applied to the account.

I. Transaction Description: Entries in this column describe balances, charges, credits, and pending financial aid transactions. Questions about these items should be directed to the originating unit. Contact numbers for these units appear on the back of the bill.

J. Charges: Entries in this column are the dollar amounts of any previous balance, tuition, housing fees, dining fees, and other charges that the student incurs.

K. Actual Credits: Entries in this column are the dollar amounts of payments, adjustments or financial aid that have been received by the university and applied to the account.

L. Pending Credits: Entries in this column include the dollar amounts of financial aid listed in your financial aid package but not yet received by the university. The total of these pending credits is deducted from the current semester balance. These credits cannot be applied or transferred to the CornellCard account. When the aid is received by the university, the pending credit will be removed and an actual credit for the aid amount will appear in "Actual Credits". Pending credits will be removed from the statement, whether or not the funds have been received, by the third month of each semester and finance charges will be assessed on the unpaid balance.

Note: Refunds will not be granted for pending credits until the funds have become Actual Credits on the account and an actual credit balance exists.

M. Bursar/CornellCard Statement Amounts Due: This is the total of bursar or CornellCard charges, minus actual credits and/or pending credits. Remember that your current semester financial aid will not be subtracted from previous semester balances and that all prior semester balances must be paid in full before registration for a new semester will be permitted.

N. Monthly Billing Messages: This section will contain monthly billing messages that pertain to upcoming deadlines, important information regarding the charges or credits on the bill, or information about the services offered by the Office of the Bursar.

O. Finance Charge Rate: This statement is provided to make you aware of the finance charges that will be incurred if the balance of the account is not paid by the due date of the bill. Finance charges are calculated on prior balances due less actual and pending credits.