Refund Policies

• When a credit balance is the result of an overpayment that is not student loan or other financial aid disbursement-related, the College will hold funds until requested by the student or at the end of the academic year. This refund check will be payable to the student only and mailed to the campus mailbox. The College will not apply credit balances to other department charges not on student accounts, e.g. fraternity charges or Deans’ Loans.  If however, a refund is requested and the payment creating the refund was made via a wire then the refund will be wired through Western Union. An email will be sent to the student email to complete the bank information.
• When a credit balance is the result of applying student loan or other financial aid disbursements to the student’s account, the refund check will be payable to the student and mailed to the campus mailbox.
• When a credit balance results from applying proceeds from a Parent PLUS Loan to the student’s account, the refund check will be payable to the parent borrower and mailed to the parent borrower’s address on record.
• When a credit balance results from applying proceeds from a 529 plan to a student’s account, a refund will be payable to the student only and deposited directly if the student has signed up for e-Refund or mailed to the student’s campus mailbox. The College is unable to refund the 529 plan directly. Please refer to IRS Publication 970 and consult your tax advisor or 529 plan administrator regarding re-contribution of the refunded amount.
• We always recommend setting up electronic refunding on your student account as this is the quickest & safest way to receive the funds. Only students can add an electronic refund account to their profile on TouchNet.

Any questions about this refund policy for credit balances on student accounts should be directed to studentaccounts@lafayette.edu. Students may review their student account detail by logging on to Banner Self-Service.

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 required to withdraw for disciplinary reasons is not eligible for a refund of tuition or room fees.

TUITION AND 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 week 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 a Federal 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.

Optional tuition refund insurance is not offered directly from the college. Families that wish to seek tuition insurance can reviews offerings from companies such as GradGuard.

 

Interim Course Refund Policy

Interim Course drop date deadlines for a full refund:

• Winter Interim (3-week term) – must drop by 5 pm on the 2nd day of class to get a full refund.
• Summer I & Summer II Interim (6-week term) – must drop by 5 pm on the 4th day of class to get a full refund

No refunds will be issued after the above-listed timelines.

 

BOARD (DINING/MEAL PLAN) FEES

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. No board refunds will be given after the last day of classes. Non-mandatory Pard dollars will be refunded to a withdrawn student to the extent the dollars have not been used.

 

OTHER FEES

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.

 

REFUND OPTIONS

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:

1. electronically to banking information on file with the Controller’s Office or
2. by printed check payable to the student unless the check payment on the account was received from an unrelated third party such as a sponsoring organization.

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.