Students who withdraw during the semester may be eligible for refunds, depending upon the time of the withdrawal. Students must give written notification to the Dean of Advising of their decision to withdraw and complete the withdrawal procedures in order to be eligible for any refunds. For the purpose of refund calculations, weeks begin on Saturday and run through Friday. Weekend days are included, but the fall break, five-day Thanksgiving break, and spring break are excluded. A student who is required to withdraw for disciplinary reasons is not eligible for a refund of tuition or room fees.
Pro-rated refunds of tuition and room fees will be made based on the table below only after the withdrawal / leave process established by the Dean of Advising and the Residence Life office are complete. The withdrawal date used for the tuition refund will be the date established by the Dean of Advising. The room refund will be based on the departure date as established by the Residence Life office.
| If withdrawal / departure occurs: | Refund: |
| On or prior to the first day of classes in each semester | 100% |
| During the 1st weeks of the semester | 90% |
| During the 2nd week of the semester | 80% |
| During the 3rd week of the semester | 70% |
| During the 4th week of the semester | 60% |
| During the 5th week of the semester | 50% |
| During the 6th week of the semester | 40% |
| During the 7th week of the semester | 30% |
| 8th through final week of the semester | 0% |
Federal financial aid funds are awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend an institution for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of funds that the student was originally scheduled to receive. If a recipient of funds from institutional, federal, or state financial aid grant or loan withdraws from the institution after beginning attendance, the amount of grant or loan assistance earned by the student must be determined by the Office of Financial Aid prior to the issuance of any refund since funds may need to be returned to the appropriate lending program. Approved refunds remaining after Federal financial aid is addressed will be remitted by electronic or paper check to the student.
Board refunds are pro-rated for the number of unused weeks remaining based on the student’s departure date as established by the Residence Life office. Any partial use of a week will not be refunded. Non-mandatory Pard dollars will be refunded to a withdrawn student to the extent the dollars have not been used.
Fees associated with but not limited to Technology, Student Activity, Matriculation, Parking, and other course fees are not refundable after the first day of classes.
As described above, tuition refunds are first evaluated by Financial Aid for aid repayments. All refunds are then applied to any outstanding balance on a student’s account by Student Accounts. Refunds for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors will be held in the student’s account for payment against future semesters unless the student provides a written request to have the funds remitted. Refunds held in graduating senior accounts will be automatically remitted to the student. Refunds will only be approved after the student has completed the withdrawal procedures with the Dean of Advising and has vacated student housing (as confirmed by Residence Life). Approved refunds will be remitted either:
a. electronically to banking information on file with the Controller’s Office or
b. by printed check payable to the student unless
Printed checks are mailed to the student’s home address listed in the Banner student system. Mailing to a different address requires written authorization from the student.
The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for Title IV funds for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60 percent of a payment period or term.
If a student leaves the College prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:
Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.
Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:
Aid to be returned = 100 percent of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid, multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.
If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the College would be required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be required to return a portion. When Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the institution.
If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the College would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement that must be paid within 30 days of the student’s withdrawal.
The College must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the student’s withdrawal.
Email us at financialaid@lafayette.edu or call (610) 330-5055.