College Fees, 2023 - 2024

Payment of Tuition, Room, Board, Fees and Other Costs and Charges

Students are enrolled at Sweet Briar College for the full academic session; however, their tuition will be billed on a semester basis.

All amounts due for tuition, room, board, fees and other costs and charges must be paid as and when due, and each student is responsible for timely payment. Student account statements are mailed to the home address of the student. Students are responsible for maintaining current address information by emailing changes to studentaccounts@sbc.edu. Students are responsible for regularly checking their official SBC email account for important correspondence related to financial matters. Students may also view their student account online through the student portal at my.sbc.edu. 

The College also holds the parents and guardians of the student responsible for full and prompt payment of all tuition, room, board, fees and other costs and charges, jointly and severally with the student.

Arrangements for borrowing funds are between the student, parents/guardians and the lending institutions. Any amounts not paid to the College by lending institutions or third parties on the due date must be remitted by the student and/or parents/guardians on the scheduled dates.

You are urged to make any necessary financial arrangements well in advance of the dates on which amounts are due to the College.

No student will be permitted to attend the College unless her tuition, room, board and fees are paid in advance.

All financial obligations for tuition, room, board, fees and other costs and charges of a student to all departments or enterprises of the College must be satisfied in full before she will be permitted to receive transcripts unless required by law, receive a diploma, register for or enter classes in any succeeding term, participate in future housing selections, or participate in commencement.

The College reserves the right to change its tuition, room, board, fees and other costs and charges at the end of any term. This catalog statement is considered sufficient notice of the time and terms of payment. Statements are sent, however, as reminders, for the convenience of students before each payment is due.

Tuition and Other Mandatory Fees

Fees are billed the first week of July for the Fall semester (payment due by August 5th) and mid-December for the Spring semster (payment due by January 5). Our semester fees are based upon each student taking an average of 15 hours for credit per semester. However, a student may take as many as 19 credits with no additional tuition fee. Any credits of 20 or more will be billed at $470 per credit hour. These fees will be added at the end of the add/drop period and will be due upon receipt of the next statement.

Payment of Amounts Due

All amounts due must be paid promptly as specified below:

Click here to make payments online.

Checks should be made payable to Sweet Briar College and sent to:

Business Office
Sweet Briar College
P.O. Box 1051
Sweet Briar, VA 24595

Payment Plans

As a convenience to our students, parents, and guardians, Sweet Briar partners with Nelnet Campus Commerce to allow you to pay your tuition and fees over time making college more affordable. Payment plans are by semester with options for spreading payments over 5, 4, or 3 months, depending on your enrollment date. Open enrollment begins July 1 for the Fall 2023 semester, and December 1 for the Spring 2024 semester. Information is available by visiting https://mycollegepaymentplan.com/sbc or by calling (800) 609-8056. An email will be sent to all students in July and December inviting them to sign up for a payment plan for the upcoming semester.

Refund Policy

Students are enrolled at Sweet Briar College for the full academic session; however, tuition will be billed on a semester basis. If the College moves to remote learning at any time during the semester due to the COVID pandemic or other emergencies, there are no refunds/credits of tuition. However, room, board and other fees may be eligible for pro rata credit depending on the timing of the decision to move to remote learning. 

Students who withdraw before a semester begins will be given a full refund of all tuition, room and board charges. The withdrawal date is established by the date the Dean of the College receives the written notice by the student of intent to withdraw. For purposes of calculating refunds, a school week is defined as beginning on Monday and ending on the following Sunday. All refund calculations take into account any charges that are unpaid at the time. Charges for student health insurance, tuition refund insurance, student life fee, applied music fee, technology fee, special fees and riding program fees are not included in the refund policy calculations. Refund requests must be made in writing to the College business office.

If withdrawal occurs:

• Within the first or second week of a semester: 90% reduction of tuition, room and board
• Within the third or fourth week of a semester: 50% reduction of tuition, room and board
• Within the fifth to eighth week of a semester: 25% reduction of tuition, room and board
• After the eighth week of the semester: no reduction of fees

Federal law requires the return of unearned federal aid funds to their respective programs when a student withdraws from the College before completing 60% of any semester for which she received such aid. “Unearned” funds mean the amount that would have been used to cover the student’s charges for the portion of the semester she was not enrolled, according to a federally prescribed formula.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Direct Stafford loan (other than PLUS loans)
2. Subsidized Direct Stafford loan
3. Federal Perkins loans
4. Federal PLUS loans
5. Directs PLUS loans
6. Federal Pell Grants for which a return of funds is required
7. Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) for which a return of funds is required

If, as a result of the return of these funds, an unpaid balance is left on the student’s bill, she or her family is responsible for paying it. No refund will be given to any student who is suspended or expelled from the College for disciplinary reasons.

Applied Music Fee

Music facilities for practice are available for use by students registered for credit or noncredit music courses in the music program and students preparing applied music placement auditions or other program auditions (with permission of the program). An applied music fee of $530 per semester per class will be charged to the student.

Books and Academic Supplies

The cost for any year will vary with the courses elected but in general ranges up to $1,300.

Vehicle Registration

Non-residential, residential and day students with vehicles on campus are assessed a $170 vehicle registration (parking) fee for the academic year.

Riding Program Fees

Students who elect to participate in the activity courses offered by the riding program pay an applied riding fee each session. The riding fee covers lessons and includes some independent riding privileges for qualified students. All students must pay the riding fee, whether riding a College-owned or privately owned horse.

Program Fees

3-week session fees:

• $280 for 2 lessons/week for 3-week session

12-week session fees:

• $1,180 for 2 lessons/week (includes some independent riding privileges for qualified students).
• For those new to riding, we offer:
  • RDPR 158 (6 weeks, 1/week) $270
  • RDPR 159 (9 weeks, 1/week) $405
• ​Unmounted opportunity to explore Leadership Development with horses:
  • RDPR 107 Equine Facilitated Leadership, 1 credit (no additional horse use/instructional fee)
    • Leadership development through Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL). An experience-based learning model based on interactive sessions with horses. All work with horses is unmounted. RDPR 107 meets once a week during the 12-week session.

Horse Boarding Fees

• Option 1: $4,636/semester - for full board in the main facility
• Option 2: $3,416/semester - for hunter board in the hunter barns (only 8 stalls available)
• Winter Semester Break Board: $988 for December 18, 2023 - January 15, 2024

Late Payment and Other Charges

Fees, charges and account balances for monies owed the College for which no specific due date is mentioned in this policy statement shall be due and payable within 30 days after the date of billing by the College.

A late payment fee of $50 will be charged if payment is received past the due date. A returned check fee of $35 will be charged on any returned item.

By federal law, students for whom the Veteran’s Administration has not yet paid tuition and fees for their veteran’s benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) or Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services (Chapter 31) are not subject to the university’s usual holds, restrictions, or late fees for such monies.

Graduation Application Fee

All students who will graduate during the 2023-2024 academic year will be assessed a one-time fee of $150.  This fee covers the cost of gowns and festivities throughout the year.  The fee will be assessed when a student submits her application to graduate.

Health Fee

The health fee covers unlimited student access to the Student Health Center.

Statement of Veteran’s Benefits Grievance Procedures

The Virginia State Approving Agency (SAA) is the approving authority of education and training programs for Virginia.  This office investigates complaints of GI Bill (copyrght) beneficiaries.  While most complaints should initially folllow the school’s grievance policy, if the situation cannot be resolved at the school, the beneficiary should contact the SAA via email at saa@dvs.virginia.gov.  Note: “GI Bill” is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Vetrans Affairs (VA).  More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.