University of Portland Tuition

University of Portland tuition is $29,400 per semester, or $58,800 for the academic year.

Now the fact that makes that number almost useless. In the most recent year with federal data, every single full-time first-time undergraduate at the University of Portland received financial aid, and every one of them received an institutional grant, averaging $39,621.

Not most. Not a high proportion. All 726 of them.

A published price that nobody in the entering class pays is not a price. It is an opening position. So this page states it in full, shows what comes off it, and ends with the figure families in each income band actually paid.

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University of Portland Tuition: The Published Price, In Full

UP charges by the semester and does not print an annual total, so the annual figures below are doubled from its published per-semester rates.

The health insurance charge is the line to look at first, because it is waivable if you have other coverage and it is worth $3,286 a year. That single administrative step is larger than most merit scholarships at most institutions.

Part-time students, meaning 11 credit hours or fewer, pay $1,840 per credit hour instead. UP does not state the full-time floor directly, so 12 credits is inferred from that part-time definition.

The surcharge most summaries miss

UP charges what it calls professional tuition per credit hour, on top of full-time tuition, for courses in certain fields:

This is charged by course, not by major, which has an odd consequence. A nursing student taking 15 credits of nursing coursework pays an extra $2,325 that semester, $4,650 for the year. An engineering student with 12 credits of engineering courses pays an extra $1,260 a semester. A student in history pays nothing extra.

So UP's real tuition is not one number but a range from $58,800 to roughly $63,450, depending on what you study, and the most expensive programmes are the ones most people apply for. The bulletin's wording on this is terse and worth confirming with student accounts before you budget on it.

And the rest

A one-time New Student Fee of $250 applies in the first year. The entrance tuition and housing deposit is $400, of which $300 credits against tuition and the remaining $100 is refundable only if you never enter University housing. A parking permit is $145 per semester. Private music lessons are billed separately at $500 per semester hour, or $375 for a half hour, and laboratory and workshop fees vary by course.

Housing and food, which UP prices by year of study

Unusually, UP's housing prices depend on how far through your degree you are, and the pattern is not what you would expect.

Notice what happens between the first two years and the last two. A first-year in a shared traditional room on the standard meal plan pays $8,550 a semester, $17,100 a year. A junior in an apartment on the apartment meal plan pays $6,750 a semester, $13,500 a year, a saving of $3,600 that comes entirely from the meal plan shrinking from 2,650 points to 700.

UP is effectively telling you that it expects upper-year students to cook. Which is also the point at which moving off the bluff altogether becomes the bigger lever: student housing near the University of Portland is the comparison to run against that $13,500 before signing a third-year housing contract.

UP separately estimates costs it does not bill: books and supplies at $495 a semester, personal expenses at $687, and transportation between $221 and $681.

Now the demolition: what students actually paid

Everything above is the gross figure. Here is the federal data, which is for 2023-24, two years behind the price list above. The gap in years is real and is stated wherever the two are compared.

A 68% discount rate means that for every three dollars UP advertises, it gives back roughly two. The published price exists to be discounted, and the discount is applied universally rather than competitively.

This changes the practical advice entirely. At a public university, the sticker price is approximately the price and your job is to work out your aid at the margin. At the University of Portland, the sticker price is a starting point that applies to nobody in the entering class, and your job is to find out which net price band you land in.

Here is that band table, as published federally for 2023-24.

Two things to take from this.

The real range is $16,577 to $37,284, against a sticker of roughly $58,100. Even the highest income band paid about 36% less than the advertised figure. If you have been comparing UP's $58,800 against the University of Oregon's $47,466 nonresident tuition and concluding UP is the expensive option, that comparison is wrong in most cases: a family at $75,000 to $110,000 of income paid $27,021 at UP, which is well under UO's nonresident figure and close to UO's resident figure of $17,475 plus living costs.

And there is an inversion in the bottom two rows that UP has not explained. Families earning $0 to $30,000 paid $20,070 on average, which is $3,493 more than families earning $30,001 to $48,000, who paid $16,577. Net price normally rises with income. Here it falls and then rises. UP publishes no explanation for this, and nor does the federal dataset, so it is reported as published rather than rationalised. If you are in the lowest band, it is worth asking the financial aid office directly why that is, because on the face of it the students with the least are not getting the best outcome.

What the 100% figures do and do not cover

Worth being precise, because this is where the good news has edges.

The 100% aid and 100% institutional grant figures apply to full-time, first-time undergraduates. That is first-year students arriving straight into a full load. They are not a statement about transfer students, part-time students, or continuing students in years two through four.

Nothing in the federal data says the average $39,621 grant renews at that level, and institutions commonly front-load aid. Before you accept an offer, ask what the award looks like in years two, three and four, and under what GPA conditions it renews. That question is more valuable than any figure on this page.

Who the University of Portland price suits

Families in the $30,000 to $110,000 income range. This is where UP is genuinely competitive and where the published price most badly misrepresents the real one. At $16,577 to $27,021 net, a small private Catholic university with small classes costs less than many out-of-state public options and sometimes less than in-state alternatives once living costs are counted.

Students in history, the humanities, languages or the arts, who pay no professional tuition surcharge and so get the base price rather than the base price plus $105 or $155 a credit.

Students with existing health coverage, who should waive the insurance on day one and keep $3,286 a year.

Upper-year students willing to cook, who can take housing and food from $17,100 down to $13,500 by moving to an apartment and a small meal plan, or further by moving off campus.

Who should be careful. Nursing students, who face the largest surcharge at $155 a credit, roughly $4,650 a year on a full nursing load, and should get that confirmed in writing before committing. Families above $110,000, who paid an average of $37,284 and should compare that honestly against the University of Oregon at $17,475 resident or $47,466 nonresident, and against Oregon State at $16,032 and $42,747. Anyone assuming the entering-year grant is a four-year guarantee. And anyone in the lowest income band who has not asked UP directly about the net price inversion above.

The figure to quote

University of Portland tuition is $58,800 a year, and $63,386 with fees and insurance, but the honest answer to what it costs is $16,577 to $37,284 depending on family income, because every first-time student receives an institutional grant and the average one is $39,621.

Use UP's net price calculator rather than its price list, waive the health insurance if you can, check whether your courses carry the professional surcharge, and ask what the award looks like in year four. Those four steps are worth more than the entire sticker price discussion.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much is University of Portland tuition?

$29,400 per semester, or $58,800 for the academic year, in UP's most recent published bulletin. UP does not print an annual total, so the yearly figure is doubled from its semester rate. Almost nobody pays it: federal data shows all 726 full-time first-time undergraduates received an institutional grant, averaging $39,621.

What are University of Portland tuition and fees in total?

$63,386 a year with the health insurance charge included, or $60,100 if you waive the insurance. The fee components are health insurance at $1,643 per semester (waivable with other coverage), a Campus Access Fee of $500 per semester, and an ASUP Student Activities Fee of $150 per semester. A one-time $250 New Student Fee applies in the first year.

What does the University of Portland actually cost after aid?

Federal net price data for 2023-24 gives averages of $20,070 for families earning $0 to $30,000, $16,577 for $30,001 to $48,000, $23,858 for $48,001 to $75,000, $27,021 for $75,001 to $110,000, and $37,284 for $110,001 and above. Note that the lowest band paid $3,493 more than the next band up, an inversion UP has not publicly explained.

Does everyone get financial aid at the University of Portland?

Among full-time first-time undergraduates, yes: federal data for 2023-24 shows 100% of the 726 students in that group received financial aid and 100% received institutional grant aid, averaging $39,621 against a published tuition and fees figure of $58,100. That is roughly a 68% discount rate. The figures cover first-year full-time students only, not transfers, part-time or continuing students.

Are there extra fees for nursing or engineering at the University of Portland?

Yes, and they are charged per credit hour on top of full-time tuition. Undergraduate nursing courses carry $155 per credit hour; business, computer science, economics, engineering, integrative health and wellness, and public health and wellness courses carry $105. A nursing student on a 15-credit nursing load pays about $4,650 extra a year. Confirm the exact application with student accounts, as the bulletin's wording is brief.

How much is housing at the University of Portland?

Per semester, a first-year traditional shared room is $5,600, a sophomore traditional single $7,200, and for juniors, seniors and graduates a traditional shared room is $5,400, a single $6,200, an apartment shared $6,000 and an apartment single $7,550. Meal plans run $2,500 to $3,400 per semester for lower-year students but only $750 to $1,200 for upper-year and apartment students, which is where most of the saving comes from.

Is the University of Portland cheaper than the University of Oregon?

Often, after aid, which surprises people. UP's sticker is $58,800 against UO's $47,466 nonresident or $17,475 resident tuition and fees. But UP discounts about 68% universally for entering students, so a family earning $75,000 to $110,000 paid an average of $27,021 at UP. Against UO's nonresident figure, UP wins comfortably; against UO's resident figure plus living costs, it is close. Run both net price calculators.

Can I waive the University of Portland health insurance charge?

Yes, UP's payment schedule lists the $1,643 per-semester health insurance charge as waivable if you have other coverage. At $3,286 a year it is the single largest reduction available from an administrative step rather than an aid award, and it is worth doing before the first bill rather than seeking a refund afterwards.