COP 04-0310: Refund of Student Tuition and Fees

Purpose Statement

This procedure establishes guidelines for refunding student tuition and fees in accordance with Florida Statutes, Department of Education rules and District Board of Trustees policies.

Guidelines

This procedure applies to refunds made to a student for any amount paid by, or on behalf of, the student related to student tuition and fees.

Procedures

1. Courses dropped/cancelled prior to the published final drop/add period:
   1. Refunds for courses dropped or canceled prior to the final drop/add period will be automatically refunded to the student.
   2. After the College's published add/drop period the Bursar’s Office generates a report of those students who have credit balances on their accounts as a result of Financial Aid Office disbursing aid or changes to paid students’ course schedules.
   3. Refunds will be processed within fourteen days of the final drop/add period. Refunds will continue to be processed weekly until financial aid processing is complete.
   4. If a refund is required outside the normal processing time a written request from a college administrator may be made to the Bursar’s Office.
2. Courses dropped after the final drop/add period:
   Request for a Late Drop
   1. Requests for refund after the final drop/add period may be made through the Request for a Late Drop or Late Withdrawal form to the Office of the Registrar.
   2. Students may request a refund after the final drop/add period due to experiencing qualifying extenuating circumstances.
   3. Requests for a refund after the final drop/add period should fully explain the extenuating circumstances and include supporting third party documentation.
   4. Requests for a refund after the final drop/add period must be received no later than one year from the last day of the term for which the tuition requested to be refunded was paid to the College.
   5. Requests for a refund after the final drop/add period are submitted to the Office of the Registrar for consideration and approval.
   6. Approved requests for a refund after the final drop/add period will be forwarded to the Bursar’s Office and any credit balance on the student’s account will be refunded to the student in the normal weekly refund process.
3. Administrative Drop/Refund
   1. Under some circumstances, such as College error or the passing of a student, it may be necessary for the College to drop a student’s courses and issue a refund of tuition and/or fees outside of the parameters of the Request for a Late Drop process.
   2. Under such circumstances, the Provost or Chief Financial Officer may submit a written request to the Office of the Registrar to execute an administrative drop/refund or the Chief Financial Officer may authorize the execution of a process to issue administrative refunds.
   3. Approved administrative drops/refunds will be processed by the Office of the Registrar and forwarded to the Bursar’s Office or executed by the Bursar’s Office and any credit balance on the student’s account will be refunded to the student in the normal weekly refund process.
4. Refund Disbursement Process:
   1. The college uses a third-party vendor to disburse refunds. Students are afforded two options to receive refunds:
      • direct deposit to and existing bank account
      • direct deposit through an account with third party vendor
   2. Students must select their refund preference on-line prior to receiving a refund. Title IV funds are mailed as a check after 10 days if no refund preference is selected.
   3. If a student requires a paper check from the college due to extenuating circumstances, exceptions may be made at the discretion of the Bursar.
   4. The refund process may take up to six weeks before all refunds are issued, depending on the volume.
   5. If a student paid via credit card, a student may request the refund to be issued to the credit card by contacting the Cashier’s Office who will then forward those requests to the Bursar.
   6. If paper checks are issued, checks will be mailed to the student's home address as it is recorded on the Student Master File at the time the refund check is issued.