The charges assessed by an institution to each and every full-time student for each term. Application, graduation, laboratory, breakage, add/drop fees, and program administration fees for out-of-state or foreign study are specifically excluded. For the purposes of ISAC's rules, tuition is not a mandatory fee.

Mandatory Fees are those covered by the plan as part of "Tuition and Mandatory Fees." In general, they are fees that are required to be paid by all full-time undergraduate students attending the Participating Institution as a condition of enrollment. Mandatory Fees, however, do not include the cost of books, supplies, room or board, even if these are required, nor does it cover those fees or costs that a particular Participating Institution specifically excludes from coverage.

required costs charged by the university in addition to tuition: examples include student activity fee, student health fee, technology fee, and transportation fee.