WVU Finance Division > Student Refunds

WVU is pleased to announce that beginning with the Fall 2009 semester, the University will offer a faster and more efficient way to deliver refunds to students.

Through a partnership with PNC Bank, the WVU eREFUND program will give students four options to choose from on how they want to receive their refund:

• A deposit into a Free PNC Checking Account that includes a Debit Card
• An ACH (direct deposit) to another Financial Institution
• A disposable PNC Prepaid Visa® Card
• A paper check (which will remain the default payment method)

More information regarding this program and other PNC banking services will follow in the coming months. Please visit the PNC/WVU website for more information or to enroll in a new account today: www.pnc.com/wvu.

***Attention Students***
Please note the changes in WVU's refund policy effective Fall 2007 semester. Students who drop one or more classes during the add/drop period (first week of the semester) during Fall and Spring terms shall be eligible for a full refund of tuition and fees of the dropped class(es) if the remaining tuition and fee assessment falls below 12 credit hours for undergraduate students or 9 credit hours for graduate students. Refunds of tuition and fees for the summer term will be pro-rated based on the part of terms.

Students who drop one or more classes, but not all classes after the add/drop period (first week of the semester), shall not be eligible for a refund of tuition and fees. Students who completely drop all classes (withdraw from the university) during the academic term shall be eligible for a refund of tuition and fees in accordance with the refund schedule below, which is based upon the percent of the instructional period that has elapsed. Students who withdraw after the 6th week of the Fall or Spring term will not be eligible for a refund. During the summer term, the refund will be prorated based on the instructional period that has elapsed, which is also indicated in the schedule below.

Students who withdraw from the university should refer to the student withdrawal procedure in the University catalogue.

Any financial aid disbursement received by Office of Student Accounts that is in excess of your charges will be refunded to you automatically unless restrictions require that the excess amount be returned to another entity.

Office of Student Accounts cannot process a refund until funds are disbursed to a student's account. For students choosing paper check as their refund method, University policy prohibits a check from being picked up, thus all refund checks are mailed. There are no exceptions!

Disbursement of federal financial aid loans is contingent upon, but is not limited to:

Other non-loan financial aid awards are also contingent upon being registered for the appropriate number of credit hours. Please see the Financial Aid Office if you are still having problems after all of these requirements have been met.

All student refunds issued by check are mailed to the student's Mailing/Local Address. If your address needs updated or if you need to have a special address created for your refund (Refund Address), please contact the Office of Admissions & Records. You can also update your address in real-time by logging on to MIX at www.mix.wvu.edu.

PLUS refunds (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Study) are in the borrower's name and are sent to the address provided on the Parent Loan Data Form during the application process. Unless noted otherwise on the parent loan application, all PLUS proceeds will be sent to the parent borrower.

***NOTE: Students living in University Residential Halls will have their addresses updated automatically to their on-campus address. Students wishing for their refund checks to be sent elsewhere should apply for a Refund Address.

Refund checks must be cashed within 180 days from their issue date. After this period, uncashed checks become stale dated and are non-negotiable. Thus, all financial aid recipients should check the STAR system at least once at the beginning of each semester to see if they have a refund check available and to make sure their local address is current.

Also important is an amendment to federal financial aid regulations. Effective July 1, 2008, any Title IV federal funds disbursed to a student or parent that are not received or negotiated must be returned to the appropriate federal financial aid program no later than 240 days after the check issue date. Students risk losing funds from any such non-negotiated refund check after the 240-day period has passed.

Students should contact Office of Student Accounts immediately upon learning of a stale dated check. Likewise, the office should be notified if a check has been damaged, lost, stolen, or destroyed. Reissues of stale dated refund checks can be done in accordance with university policy provided there are no outstanding balances owed and the student has notified the office prior to the 240-day cutoff in the instance of federal funds.

This schedule will pertain only to complete withdrawals from university beginning in Fall 2007.