Brandeis University Admissions

Terms of Use

Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Brandeis University’s (“Brandeis”) financial aid planner (“Faye”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use (“Terms”) and acknowledge that you have read and understood them.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement made between you and Brandeis. Access to Faye is provided only upon your explicit opt‑in to these Terms, and participation is voluntary. You agree that by using Faye, you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by all of these Terms.

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18, YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO USE FAYE UNLESS YOUR PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN REVIEWS AND EXPLICITLY ACCEPTS THESE TERMS ON YOUR BEHALF BY INDICATING THAT TO FAYE. YOU AGREE TO IMMEDIATELY TERMINATE YOUR USE OF OR ACCESS TO FAYE IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 13, OR IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 AND DO NOT HAVE CONSENT FROM YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN TO ACCESS OR USE FAYE.

ARBITRATION NOTICE: EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES DESCRIBED IN THE “DISPUTES” SECTION BELOW, YOU AGREE THAT DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AT THE ELECTION OF EITHER PARTY, AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND YOUR RIGHT TO BRING OR RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE AS OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, REPRESENTATIVE, OR COLLECTIVE ACTION IN COURT OR IN ARBITRATION.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE TERMS OF USE, THEN YOU ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED FROM USING FAYE AND YOU MUST DISCONTINUE USE IMMEDIATELY.

What Faye Can Tell You

Subject to the limitations below, Brandeis intends to provide financial aid consistent with Faye’s results. Using Faye, however, does not constitute applying to Brandeis; you must still submit an application. Likewise, Faye’s determination of aid does not constitute an offer of admission.

Faye is accurate only for students starting in the 2027-28 school year. We just don’t know what first year tuition will be years from now. And we change our formula for determining merit aid every year, as students find new ways to excel.

After Your First Year Here

Some schools reduce aid after the first year, regardless of whether your family circumstances have changed significantly, Brandeis does not.

We will maintain merit scholarships as long as you meet the renewal requirements, and need-based aid under the Brandeis Commitment, provided your family’s financial situation remains substantially similar (for example, income does not increase by more than 15% and the number of siblings in college remains the same).

If you’re receiving need-based aid, you must complete the FAFSA each year, and you may need to submit additional documents. You may also need to submit a new CSS Profile if your financial situation changes materially. Costs may vary from year to year due to increases in the cost of providing education and student support and, more significantly, your choice of residence hall and meal plan after your first year. Merit scholarships generally apply only to your first eight semesters of full time enrollment (about 80% of our students graduate in four years).

Data Accuracy and Limitations

You are responsible for the accuracy of all information you submit to Faye. If you provide inaccurate information, Faye’s results will be inaccurate, and Brandeis may revise them. We may also revise Faye’s results if your financial circumstances change (for example, income, assets, or family situation) before you enroll. Please notify us promptly if you need to resubmit  your information based on changed circumstances.

You will not rely on Faye to decide whether to apply to other institutions, seek other forms of financial aid or scholarships, or give up pursuing other options for financing your education. For one thing, you might not get into Brandeis!

If your financial situation is especially complex, Faye may not fully capture all relevant factors, and will simply give you an estimate. And Faye has two additional limitations: indirect costs, such as travel and personal expenses, are estimates; and some items, such as health insurance, are not included in Faye’s analysis.

Faye is in Beta, so while we strive for accuracy, automated calculations may contain errors. If we discover a discrepancy, we will rectify it and update your information. By using Faye, you acknowledge these results are a reflection of our best current data rather than a binding contract; if a correction decreases your aid, you may withdraw your application for a full refund of your fee.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

Faye is provided “as is” and “as available.” Brandeis disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Brandeis shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss arising from or related to Faye, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall Brandeis’s total liability arising out of or relating to Faye exceed one hundred dollars ($100).

Faye attempts to help you evaluate the cost of Brandeis by looking at the historical earnings of our graduates. You confirm that you understand and agree that such information (“future outcomes”) is based on Brandeis alumni surveys and US Dept of Education data and is not customized to you or any user.  Brandeis makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees that you will have, achieve, or attain any particular future outcome.  You understand and agree that the economy and job markets change rapidly and future outcomes will change over time and are not guaranteed. You understand and agree your future outcomes depend on a number of factors outside of the control of Brandeis, including, but not limited to, your academic performance, job and professional history and performance.

We may suspend or terminate access to Faye at any time, with or without notice. We may also update Faye and these Terms at any time. Continued use constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Your sole and exclusive remedy for dissatisfaction with Faye is to stop using Faye.

Data Privacy

We retain your information so that you can resume your interactions with Faye and so that we can verify it later. If you start a new session, Faye may overwrite prior data, and you will only be able to access information from your most recent session.

If parents or legal guardians separately submit financial information, we will not share their underlying data with each other; we will only share resulting aid calculations.

Brandeis may use the data you submit to assist you in researching Brandeis and to improve Faye. We do not share your information with third parties except (a) as required by law, regulation, or legal process; (b) to protect the rights, property, or safety of Brandeis, users, or the public; or (c) with service providers acting on our instructions under appropriate data protection obligations.

Faye leverages Large Language Model (LLM) artificial intelligence to provide dynamic estimates and support. All inputs processed by this Net Cost Calculator are handled within a secure, closed system. No data flows back to any external third-party AI developers, and no information submitted herein will be used to train, evaluate, or enhance any artificial intelligence models. Your data is handled in strict accordance with federal data privacy regulations and our institutional privacy policies.

While we employ industry-recognized safeguards, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we do not guarantee absolute security.

We use analytics tools and cookies to understand usage and improve performance. These tools may collect information such as device type, pages visited, time spent, and general location. Data may be processed in the United States or other jurisdictions.

Please see our general privacy notices for additional information.

Data Retention

We retain submitted information only as long as necessary for the purposes described above, as required by law and or any other permissible, related purpose.

You may request deletion of your data. However, we may retain information where required or permitted by law, including to complete services, detect security incidents, comply with legal obligations, support internal operations.

Intellectual Property

Faye, including its content, software, and functionality, is owned or licensed by Brandeis and protected by intellectual property laws. You are granted a limited license to access and use Faye for personal, non-commercial purposes. No ownership rights are transferred. If you submit feedback, you grant us a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use and modify it, and you waive any moral rights.

You may use Faye solely for your personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble Faye, or use it to develop or train competing products. You may not interfere with or disrupt Faye, submit malicious code, or use Faye in any manner that infringes rights or violates applicable law.

Disputes

THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS; PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE AGREEING TO THESE TERMS.

Agreement to Arbitrate. Except as otherwise provided in this Arbitration Provision, Brandeis, together with its affiliates, successors, assigns, and any of these entities’ employees, officers, directors, agents, and their successors, assigns, affiliates, and service providers (collectively, the “Transaction Parties;” individually, the “Transaction Party”) and you can elect to resolve any past, present, or future dispute or claim (“Dispute”) arising from or relating in any way to (i) the use of Faye, (ii) these Terms, or (iii) the relationship between you and any Transaction Party in connection with the foregoing that cannot be resolved directly between you and a Transaction Party, by binding arbitration under the Consumer Arbitration Rules (“the Consumer Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), rather than in court. For purposes of this Arbitration Provision, the term Transaction Parties also includes any third party providing goods and/or services in connection with the use of Faye on behalf of a Transaction Party, if that third party is named as a party along with a Transaction Party in the same proceeding or a related proceeding.

“Dispute” Defined. Except as otherwise provided in this Arbitration Provision, “Dispute” broadly includes, without limitation: any claims based in contract, statute, tort, fraud, consumer rights, misrepresentation, equity, or any other legal theory; initial claims, counterclaims, cross-claims, and third-party claims; federal, state, and local claims; and claims which arose before or after the date of your use of Faye, including, but not limited to, any dispute or claim arising before the date you first accessed or used Faye or agreed to these Terms and any dispute or claim relating to : (i) the use or termination of Faye; (ii) any statement, warranty, or representation made by or on behalf of a Transaction Party; (iii) any product or service provided by or through a Transaction Party or third parties in connection Faye and any associated fees; (iv) a Transaction Party’s use or failure to protect any personal information you give a Transaction Party; (v) enforcement of any of the obligations a party may have to another party in connection with Faye or any agreement governing the same; or (viii) compliance with applicable laws and/or regulations.

Exceptions to “Dispute.” Notwithstanding the foregoing: (i) disputes or controversies about the validity, enforceability, coverage, or scope of this Arbitration Provision or any part thereof are for a court and not an arbitrator to decide; however, disputes or controversies about these Terms or your agreements governing the use of or access to Faye or with Transaction Parties as a whole are for an arbitrator and not a court to decide; (ii) any Disputes seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of intellectual property rights, will not be subject to binding arbitration under this Arbitration Provision; and (iii) this Arbitration Provision will not apply to any Dispute that was already pending in court before this Arbitration Provision took effect.

Governing Law. The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq., and federal arbitration law apply to this Arbitration Provision. An arbitrator can award an individual the same damages and relief as a court in an individual case and must apply and follow applicable substantive law, consistent with the FAA, and the terms of these Terms and any agreement governing the use of or access to Faye. The arbitrator shall apply applicable statutes of limitations and honor privilege rules. Any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator will be final, subject to any appeal rights under the FAA, and may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. JURY TRIAL WAIVER.

Arbitration Procedures. Either you or a Transaction Party can initiate arbitration through the AAA or by filing a motion to compel arbitration of claims filed in court. The party asserting the claim ) is responsible for starting the arbitration proceeding. If the AAA cannot serve and we cannot agree on a substitute, a court with jurisdiction shall select the arbitrator, who will apply the AAA rules and the procedures specified in this Arbitration Provision. Any arbitrator must be a practicing attorney with ten or more years of experience practicing law or a retired judge. Any arbitration will be governed by the AAA then-current Consumer Rules, and its Procedures for the Resolution of Disputes through Document Submission (“Document Submission Procedures”). The Document Submission Procedures are included in the Consumer Rules. The parties shall pay filing, administrative and arbitrator fees in accordance with the Consumer Rules. Each party will bear the expense of its own attorneys, experts and witnesses, regardless of which party prevails. .

The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator solely based on written submissions unless the arbitrator determines that a telephonic or in-person conference or hearing is necessary. The place, or legal seat of arbitration, shall be Waltham, Massachusetts, and the language of the arbitration shall be English.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER. You and the Transaction Parties each agree that the Dispute will be resolved only on an individual basis and not as a class, collective or other representative action. To the fullest extent permitted under the FAA: (a) no arbitration will be joined or consolidated with any other unless all parties otherwise agree in writing; (b) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be arbitrated on a class-action, collective action or private attorney general basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (c) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons. No arbitrator shall have the authority to issue any relief that applies to any person or entity other than Transaction Parties and/or you individually.

Miscellaneous; Conflicts. Even if all parties have opted to litigate a Dispute in court, a party may elect arbitration with respect to any claim made by a new party or any claim later asserted by a party in that or any related or unrelated lawsuit (including a claim initially asserted on an individual basis but modified to be asserted on a class, representative, or multi-party basis). Nothing in that litigation shall constitute a waiver of any rights under this Arbitration Provision or Terms. If any portion of this Arbitration Provision is inconsistent with the Consumer Rules, with these Terms, or your agreements governing the use of Faye, or with an arbitration provision in any agreement with a Transaction Party, this Arbitration Provision shall govern.

Survival; Severance. This Arbitration Provision shall survive termination of Faye or these Terms or of any agreement into which you enter with a Transaction Party; and, further, you understand and agree that this Arbitration Provision applies not only to these Terms but also to any subsequent agreement (including without limitation any agreement governing the use of Sites) into which you enter with a Transaction Party. If any portion of this Arbitration Provision is deemed invalid or unenforceable, it shall not invalidate the remaining portions of this Arbitration Provision.

Contact

You agree and acknowledge that Brandeis and its agents may contact you via mail, email, or SMS using the information you voluntarily provided. You may opt out at any time by texting STOP to 781-786-7614 or emailing admissions@brandeis.edu.

Please direct questions to: Brandeis University Office of Admissions, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453, or (better) email us at admissions@brandeis.edu.