Financial Aid

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fees at Union are determined based on your degree program, and whether you are enrolled in full or part-time study. View Union’s current tuition and fee schedule. Aside from tuition, you may notice other fees and charges on your student bill, such as student health insurance, the health services fee, meal plan and activity fee.

Estimating your Living Expenses

As a graduate student, you should set aside funding to help you cover living expenses such as housing, transportation, books and supplies. Union’s Office of Financial Aid provides annual estimates of those expenses to assist you with the budgeting process. To learn more, review Union’s Estimated Cost of Attendance.

Both merit-based and need-based scholarships, as well as grants, are available to new and continuing students in eligible degree programs. Students in non-degree or certificate programs are not eligible for institutional funding. To remain eligible for merit-based and need-based awards students must:
(1) maintain continuous enrollment at the credit level specified by their scholarship
(2) make satisfactory academic progress
(3) remain in good academic standing each semester
Scholarship funds are awarded only during fall and spring terms.

Merit Scholarships and Fellowships

Merit awards are generally awarded at the time of admission. To be considered, students must have submitted an application to a relevant Union degree program. Merit scholarship programs available at Union include:

• Presidential Scholarship, full tuition plus cost of living
• Ecumenical Fellowship, full tuition plus cost of living – for an STM student from an African country; applicants from other developing nations are also considered)
• Lenape Scholarship, full tuition scholarship for a student in the MASJ program.
  • Members of the Lenape Tribal Nation receive preference; applicants from all Indigenous and/or tribal communities will also be considered
• Union Hough Scholarships, $27,500 award
• Union Heritage Scholarships, full tuition plus $2,000 stipend
• Union Tuition Scholarships, full tuition
• Social Justice Grant, $12,000 scholarship towards your degree – for students in the MASJ program
• PhD Fellowships, full tuition plus cost of living

Need-based Grant Programs Available at Union

Union grants are need-based awards available to students in the MAR, MDiv, and STM degree programs. To be considered, students must (1) submit an application for admission to a relevant Union degree program and (2) submit the FAFSA.

If you are a US Citizen or Permanent Resident, and you wish to be considered for need-based federal financial aid, you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). To be considered for financial aid, you will be required to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Please use G02890 as your school code. The FAFSA application is available beginning on October 1 each academic year and should be completed as soon as possible. The priority FAFSA deadline for new students is February 15.

The following Federal Financial Aid programs are available at Union

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: Offer up to $20,500 of funding per academic year. Amounts borrowed are subject to interest and a loan origination fee. You are not required to demonstrate financial need to be eligible for this program. This program is subject to a $138,000 lifetime borrowing limit

Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans: Pay for expenses not covered by other financial aid. Graduate PLUS loans typically carry a higher interest rate than other federal loan programs and you must not have an adverse credit history (a credit check will be conducted). You are not required to demonstrate financial need to be eligible for this program. You can borrow up to the full cost of attendance minus any other financial aid received.

Federal Work-Study:  Union has a limited number of part-time on-campus and off-campus jobs available under the federal work-study program. This is a form of financial aid that does not need to be paid back. Federal work study packages are typically allocated during July and August for the upcoming academic year.  

We have compiled a list of external scholarships that can help ease the financial burden of your education. These scholarships are not provided by Union, but we believe they are excellent resources that students can pursue. Our list includes a variety of scholarships for students across different fields of study, as well as merit-based scholarships and need-based awards. We have also included scholarships specifically for women, minorities, and first-generation college students. This is not a comprehensive list and we encourage you to do your own research.

View our list of scholarships

Union is approved by the Veterans Administration for the enrollment of students eligible for veterans’ educational benefit programs.  Each program provides different benefits for different students. Research to  determine which may apply to you.  Students eligible for Veterans’ Education Benefits are expected to follow the process below:

1) Veterans interested in establishing their eligibility for this program initiates an application through the VA Education Benefits website: https://www.va.gov/education/how-to-apply/

2) The VA sends a Certificate of Eligibility to each applicant. In their first semester, students submit a copy of their Certificate of Eligibility to the Registrar at registar@utsnyc.edu immediately upon receipt.

3) The Registrar applies for the Post 9/11 GI Bill® funds using VA-ONCE.

4) Upon receipt of the funds from the VA, the student is notified by the VA and their Union billing statement is updated.

5) After 9/11 GI Bill funds are distributed, the Registrar applies for Yellow Ribbon funding, if applicable.

6) Upon receipt of the funds from the VA, the student is notified by the VA and their Union billing statement is again updated to include both the VA and Union’s Yellow Ribbon match funding.

7) Any remaining Union grants or scholarships are then applied to the student billing statement. Please note, the Yellow Ribbon award may affect other types of financial aid, since total financial aid from all sources cannot exceed a student’s cost of attendance.

8) Any outstanding balance is the responsibility of the student.

Yellow Ribbon Program

Under the YR program, Union Theological Seminary awards up to $5,000 as the Seminary’s contribution to the program and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs matches the Seminary contribution of up to $5,000. The actual amount of your award is determined by your eligibility requirements. Yellow Ribbon awards are granted on a first come, first served basis. Union Theological Seminary grants and scholarships are not awarded for any specific portion of a student’s educational expenses, so they are not included in the calculation of Yellow Ribbon awards.

You can manage your financial aid award (scholarship, grants and/or student loans) through the NetPartner Financial Aid Portal.  You must be a New or Continuing enrolled Union student and have an active Union Student ID and email address to use this system.  All admitted students will be provided the appropriate login-in credentials for this system.

Through the NetPartner Financial Aid Portal, students will be able to:

• View your financial aid award and cost of attendance budget 
• Accept, Decline or Reduce offers of financial aid, including scholarships and loans
• View a list of documents we’ve received from you and a list of the documents still outstanding
• Upload required documents
• Print financial aid forms
• Keep track of scheduled and processed disbursements of your financial aid

Log-in to NetPartner 

We expect the system to provide a transparent and easy way for you to get information about your financial aid.  You will be able to immediately access information about your financial aid, the timing of your disbursements and whether you are required to submit additional documentation.  

If you have questions about financial aid at Union, please email finaid@utsnyc.edu.

Billing, payments and refunds are handled by the Bursar’s Office.  Email Gary Turner, Senior Accountant and Bursar, with questions at gturner@uts.columbia.edu.  You can receive information on how to sign up for a payment plan, sign up for third party billing (if you have a scholarship from an external institution), or to learn more about student refunds.

View Your Student Billing Statement:

You are able to view all Anticipated (awarded) and Disbursed (credited) financial aid for the semester on your Student Billing Statement. To view your current or past Student Billing Statement(s), please follow the instructions below:

1. Login to the Union Student Portal here: https://uts.jenzabarcloud.com/studopts.cfm
2. Click on the Financial tab on the left menu bar and then select the Billing link 
3. This will take you to the billing page where you can view the bill for your current semester or view a prior term.
4. Then select the Click Here to View Statement link which will open a PDF version of your Student Billing Statement

Manage your Refund:

Once your financial aid disbursement has been authorized, financial aid refunds and advances are managed through the Bursar’s Office using the ECSI RefundSelect System. You can manage your refund (e.g. change your mailing address or update your ACH bank account information) directly through the ECSI website. You will receive notification from ECSI once your financial aid refund payment is available. 

If you are expecting a refund, you MUST sign into the ECSI portal using the link provided in the email that you received from ECSI. To log-in, please use the Student ID # provided on your Student Billing Statement to log into the ECSI portal.