Students who study abroad on an “exchange” program pay tuition at Mines. Students on the First-Year Study Abroad Experience (FYSAE) pay tuition to Mines and an additional program fee.  On these programs, your financial aid operates the same way it does when you are on-campus!

Any amount of aid more than tuition and fees charged by Mines is refundable to you to pay for your expenses abroad. The refund timeline is the same as if you were on campus; aid pays to your bill the week before classes begin and then refunds can be processed. You may need to pay for some out-of-pocket expenses like transportation before you get your refund. See the Exchange Cost of Attendance table below for more information.

Once you return from your abroad experience, you must submit a copy of your transcript (either official or unofficial) or a printout of your grades showing you completed your classes. You must have attempted a full-time schedule (12 credits) to keep your aid unchanged. If you are unable to submit some sort of validation (unofficial transcript, grade printout) of your grades within 4 months of the end of the term you were abroad, your current term financial aid may be impacted.

Students receiving financial aid are assigned a Cost of Attendance budget (COA) for each semester that include tuition/fees, room/meal allowances, and transportation/personal allowances. This cost is an estimate, and your expenses may vary by program or country.  Your exchange budget is based on Mines full-time tuition, the Mines technology and study abroad application fees, and averages of out-of-pocket expenses for the remaining allowances. The total amount of financial aid cannot exceed your COA. If your expenses will exceed an amount listed in this budget, please submit a Budget Review Request. Financial aid can take any reasonable expenses into account on your individualized COA budget.

2023-2024 Cost of Attendance: Exchange

Students who enroll directly at an approved institution, or go on an approved provider program, are billed by their program provider or host university. You may use financial aid toward your expenses, but you are responsible for making the payment. The amount of aid you are eligible to receive is based on you taking at least 12 credits to be full-time for financial aid purposes.

The full amount of financial aid you receive is refunded to you minus the Mines technology fee. The refund timeline is the same as if you were on campus; aid pays to your bill the week before Mines classes begin and then refunds can be processed. You may need to pay for some out-of-pocket expenses like transportation before you get your refund.

Once you return from your abroad experience, you must submit a copy of your transcript (either official or unofficial) or a printout of your grades showing you completed your classes. You must have attempted a full-time schedule (12 credits) to keep your aid unchanged. If you are unable to submit some sort of validation (unofficial transcript, grade printout) of your grades within 4 months of the end of the term you were abroad, your current term financial aid may be impacted.

Because you are directly paying the other institution, you should keep receipts for your expenses for tax purposes. Amounts paid to another university are not reported on your Mines 1098-T. Most international universities will not provide US tax documents.

If you have a Mines full-tuition scholarship (E-days or Colorado Scholars), Mines will pay actual tuition and fees up to the full-time on-campus semester amount. 

Students receiving financial aid are assigned a Cost of Attendance budget (COA) for each semester that include tuition/fees, room/meal allowances, and transportation/personal allowances. Your exchange budget is based on averages for students who study abroad on direct enroll or provider programs. The total amount of financial aid cannot exceed your COA. If your expenses will exceed an amount listed in this budget, please submit a Budget Review Request. Financial aid can take any reasonable expenses into account on your individualized COA budget.

2023-2024 Cost of Attendance: Direct Bill Study Abroad

Most financial aid for summer is in the form of loans.  Students may use any remaining fall/spring federal loan eligibility toward summer.  Private education loans and parent PLUS loans are available to use in the summer as well.  If you will graduate early and not use all 8 semesters of your merit scholarship, you may request for one semester of your scholarship to be moved to a summer term.  If you will be taking credits at Mines AND going abroad in the summer, please visit our Summer Financial Aid page for information on costs and to complete the Mines summer aid application as well as the following steps.

To request financial aid for study abroad experiences during the summer term, you must:

1. Have applied to, and been approved by, Mines Education Abroad (visit abroad.mines.edu to apply)
2. Be participating in a Faculty-Led study Abroad Program, where you are charged Mines Tuition at the Study Abroad Faculty-Led Tuition rate and be enrolled in at least 6 credits
3. Reach out to the financial aid office directly with your study abroad plan by emailing finaid@mines.edu by May 1st.  Summer study abroad requires personal attention by the financial aid office; it is not an automatic process.