Business Office - Withdrawal Policies and Refunds

Withdrawal Policies and Refunds

Business Office

To withdraw from a course, students must submit a course withdrawal form or email the Office of the Registrar from their salve.edu email address. Permission to withdraw must be obtained from the instructor and submitted to the Office of the Registrar prior to the withdrawal deadline, which is published in the academic calendar.

If a student stops attending a course at any time without withdrawing, the final grade will be the grade the student has earned in the course. Please refer to the financial information section of the academic catalog for details on tuition refunds. Refunds apply to tuition only; fees are non-refundable.

Undergraduate students who wish to withdraw from the University must do so through the Office of the Registrar. The official withdrawal form available on the registrar's online forms webpage. The student must meet with Residence Life, Financial Aid and the Business Office and return the signed form to the Office of the Registrar. The University will initiate a student’s withdrawal when the student has not registered for the next semester, not including summer sessions.

It is important that students who wish to withdraw submit their request as soon as the decision is made. The official withdrawal date determines the amount of prorated tuition, and financial aid awards are also adjusted according to the withdrawal date.

Graduate students who wish to withdraw from the University must do so through the Office of the Registrar. The official withdrawal form available on the registrar's online forms webpage. The University will initiate a student’s withdrawal when the student has not registered for the next semester, not including summer sessions.

Students who receive financial aid must arrange for an exit interview with the Office of Financial Aid. Please refer to the financial information section of the academic catalog for details on tuition refunds. It is important that students who wish to withdraw submit their request as soon as the decision is made. The official withdrawal date determines the amount of prorated tuition, and financial aid awards are also adjusted according to the withdrawal date.

If you leave the University during or at the end of a semester and properly communicate this according to policy, you will not be charged for the next semester. However, if you have already registered for the next semester, you must drop those courses before the next semester starts using the course adjustment form from the Office of the Registrar.

If you leave the University or change your enrollment during the first five weeks of the semester, you will be eligible for a tuition and room and board refund. If you are suspended, dismissed or withdraw when under investigation for misconduct, you will not have tuition, room charges or board plans refunded for the semester in which action is taken.

Refunds will be processed within 30 days after the University has received notification of your withdrawal.

Tuition refunds will be calculated based on the date the Office of the Registrar receives your withdrawal form. All fees are nonrefundable after the start of classes. The University reserves the right to charge an administrative fee for refunds of this nature.

Room refunds will be processed assuming another student can fill your vacated room. If the room cannot be filled, the University retains the right to enforce the terms of the student housing contract, which states that you are responsible for the entire semester room charge.

Campus-based, fall and spring semester, 15-week courses

  • 100 percent before classes begin.
  • 80 percent before the second week of the semester.
  • 80 percent before the third week of the semester.
  • 60 percent before the fourth week of the semester.
  • 40 percent before the fifth week of the semester.
  • 20 percent before the sixth week of the semester.
  • Nothing after the sixth week of the semester.

Campus-based "compressed" courses, seven weeks or fewer

  • 100 percent before classes begin
  • 80 percent before the 10th calendar day from start of course
  • 60 percent before the 16th calendar day from start of course
  • Nothing after the 15th calendar day from start of course

Campus-based summer courses and all eight-week courses

  • 100 percent before classes begin
  • 80 percent during the first week of class
  • 60 percent during the second week of class
  • Nothing after the second week of class
  • Weekend workshops: Nothing after a workshop has started)

Seven-week online courses

  • 100 percent before class begins
  • 80 percent before the 10th calendar day from start of course
  • 60 percent before the 16th calendar day from start of course
  • Nothing after the 15th calendar day from start of course

MFA program refund policy

  • No refund for the one week residence course after the start date
  • Semester courses:
    • 0-30 days - 50 percent refund
    • 30-60 days - 25 percent refund
    • No refund after day 60

Graduate and professional studies nursing students refund policy (RN-BSN, MSN and DNP)

  • 100% tuition refund through week 1.
  • No refund from week 2 onward

Graduate and professional studies 5-year students

  • No refund after the 1st day of classes. Students may change their program path at the completion of the semester.

If you received Title IV federal financial aid such as Stafford loans, PLUS loans, Perkins loans, nursing student loans, SEOG grants or Pell grants, you are subject to repayment as mandated by the federal government. Up until the 60 percent completion of the semester, all Title IV funds are repaid based on a strict prorated percentage of time completed over the entire semester. After the 60 percent completion date of the semester, all Title IV funds are considered earned and are retained by you.

Salve Regina has a policy that returns any unearned tuition assistance (TA) funds on a proportional basis through at least the 60 percent portion of the period for which the funds were provided to the military service branch.

If you received University-sponsored financial aid such as grants, you are subject to the same policy as tuition. Therefore, if you are entitled to a percentage of tuition due to early withdrawal, the same percentage of the grant will be refunded to the University. The above calculation will be performed within 30 days after University withdrawal or 30 days after the University becomes aware of your withdrawal.

Periodically, your tuition account could have a credit balance due to an excess of financial aid (combination of grants and loans) overcharges. This is usually a result of financial aid to be used for living expenses. When this occurs, the University complies with the refund policy as mandated by the federal government as it relates to Title IV funds. If an anticipated refund is the result of Title IV funds, the Business Office can transfer all or a portion of the credit balance prior to disbursement to the student's Salve ID to be used for books and supplies.

Once funds are disbursed (received by the University) to your account, the University makes the funds available to you through direct deposit, which you can sign up for through My Salve. If you are not signed up for direct deposit, the check will be mailed to your billing address. This process does not require a formal request.

The University will not advance anticipated (awarded not yet disbursed) financial aid prior to the actual disbursement of funds.

All refunds that are not Title IV federal financial aid must be requested through My Salve and will be made payable to you unless otherwise requested by the person responsible for payment of your bill. If the credit balance comes from a loan applied for by the parent, that portion of the overpayment will be refunded to the parent.

Refund requests may take up to 10 working days to process, and will be available through direct deposit or mailed home. Please complete a student refund request form and return it to the Business Office.

A credit balance occurs whenever the amount of funding applied to a student’s account exceeds the student’s charges in a term/semester.

A Title IV credit balance occurs when the total amount of Title IV funding (Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, Plus Loans, Perkins Loans, Pell and SEOG Grants) applied to a student’s account exceeds tuition, fees, room and board in a given term/semester. Federal regulations require all Title IV credit balances to be resolved within 14 calendar days of the date the credit is created.

Federal regulations also require that the University documents that a student began attending classes in order to be eligible for a refund of a credit balance. Therefore, disbursement of Title IV funds begins once the add/drop period has passed.

Federal regulations require the University to obtain written authorization from students (and parents in the case of Parent PLUS loans) to retain Title IV funding for future charges (additional terms/semester in same academic year), or to utilize funds for allowable charges other than tuition, fees, room and board. Allowable charges are books, supplies and other educationally related goods and services provided by the institution.

Credit Balance Reconciliation

Title IV credit balance is reconciled within 14 calendar days of the creation of the credit through one of the following:

  • Holding funding until end of academic year if an authorization has been received.
  • Payment by EFT (direct deposit into student's bank account) if an authorization has been received.
  • Payment by check to student if prior two bullets do not apply

Timeframe for Returning an Unclaimed Title IV Credit Balance

When Salve Regina attempts to issue a refund of the credit balance by check and the check is not cashed, then the University returns the funds no later than 240 days after the date the check is issued.