F-1 Tuition Reimbursement Rules for Public High School Students

The federal rule behind the requirement

Section 214(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act sets a specific condition for F-1 students attending a public secondary school in the United States: you must reimburse the local school district for the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of your education for the period you attend. This applies only to public schools.

It exists because public schools are funded by local taxpayers, and Congress did not want F-1 students, who pay no local taxes, drawing on that funding the way resident students do. The requirement applies regardless of your family's income, and a district does not offer a discount or payment plan that effectively waives part of the cost.

Districts cannot waive this requirement, and a designated school official cannot issue a Form I-20 for public secondary study without documenting how the cost was calculated and confirming payment (American Immigration Lawyers Association ).

How districts calculate the per capita cost

Each school district works out its own figure, generally by dividing its total public education expenditure by its total enrollment. There is no single national number.

Reported figures for individual districts range from around $3,400 to more than $10,000 a year, and consular officers generally accept whatever figure a district's school official certifies without independently verifying it. A figure that looks unusually low, well under $2,000, draws a follow up question at your visa interview more often (American Immigration Lawyers Association ).

The district documents both the calculated cost and the amount you paid directly on your Form I-20. Ask your prospective school for their current per capita figure before you commit, since it varies enough between districts to change your budget meaningfully.

Only grades 9 through 12 qualify at all

Public elementary and middle schools, kindergarten through grade 8, cannot enroll F-1 students under any circumstances, regardless of reimbursement. Only a public school at the secondary level, grades 9 through 12, applies for the SEVP certification needed to issue an F-1 student an I-20 in the first place. Private schools face no such grade restriction and enroll F-1 students at any K-12 grade level, one more reason public high school stays a narrow, short-term option rather than a full K-12 pathway (travel.state.gov ).

How this differs from private school tuition

Private secondary schools set their own tuition like any other private institution and are not subject to the 214(l) reimbursement rule, since they are not funded by local property taxes the way public districts are. Private school F-1 tuition is whatever the school charges every student, domestic or international, and no per capita formula caps it. Most F-1 high school students in the US attend private schools for this reason, along with the 12-month limit public high schools carry.

The 12-month limit on public high school F-1 status

F-1 status for study at a public secondary school cannot exceed 12 months in total. This 12-month cap covers all public high schools you attend combined, not 12 months per school, so a student who splits a year between two public districts still hits the same overall ceiling.

Your Form I-20 for a public high school cannot list a program length longer than this limit. Most students who want a full multi-year US high school program choose a private school instead, since a private school I-20 carries no such cap (Study in the States ).

After the 12 months end

Once you use up the 12-month public secondary allowance, you do not get to extend it or reset it by transferring to a different public district. Your options are to move your SEVIS record to a private secondary school if you still need to finish high school, or to move on to a US college or university once you graduate. Plan your public high school placement around this hard ceiling rather than assuming you extend it later.

When and how you pay

Districts typically require payment before or shortly after they issue your I-20, since your DSO documents the payment on that form before you apply for your visa. Some districts accept a lump sum for the full period upfront, others bill per semester or per year if your I-20 covers multiple terms within the 12-month cap. Confirm the payment schedule and accepted payment methods directly with the district's business office, since local rules set this, not federal rule.

What happens if reimbursement is not paid

A school cannot lawfully issue or maintain a SEVIS record for public secondary study without documented reimbursement. If a district issued an I-20 without properly collecting or documenting this cost, both the record and your ability to get a visa on it face questions at the consulate or from SEVP directly. Confirm the payment process and amount with your district's international student coordinator before you rely on that I-20 for a visa interview.