International students are charged an International Surcharge fee of $250 per semester. The surcharge is assessed for the following purposes:
- to offset the expenses associated with unfunded mandates from the federal government which require reporting to the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS compliance must be evaluated for each student at three points:
- application for admission
- each semester the student is actively enrolled
- upon graduation if the student exercises his/her post completion employment benefits (OPT)
- to support efforts which require Michigan Tech to be re-certified every year to accept J-1 students and every two years in order to accept F-1 students.
- to fund software and training expenses. Michigan Tech responded to the new regulatory environment by purchasing software (e.g. iOffice) to facilitate the monitoring process. Similar to the Office of Financial Aid, our International Programs Office has had to increase the training of staff in response to ever changing rules and regulations.
Note: The federal system charges a SEVIS fee which is paid directly to USCIS. Michigan Tech does not receive any portion of this fee. It is currently $220 for J-1 students and scholars and $350 for F-1 students.