Community Exchange

   Thank you,

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Julie Fisher
Associate Vice President or Finance (Controller and Treasurer)
McDaniel College
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Julie,

At Mount St. Mary's, we do not draw down the federal funds until just after add/drop.  This allows more time to refund based on actual student activity.

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John Callahan
Controller
Mount Saint Mary's University
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Hi Julie,

We do not disburse aid until after add/drop has ended and begin student refunds immediately thereafter.   We use People-Soft and the aid for each term is visible to the student however they understand they will not receive any eligible refund until after add/drop.  We also have options in place for those needing to purchase books/supplies from our campus bookstore with their excess funds prior to receiving the refund.  

Thanks,

Alana Martin

Executive Director, Student Financial Services

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

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Alana Martin
Executive Director, Student Financial Services
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach
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We also wait until after add/drop to process all refunds.  The 14-day requirement is for refund processing, not the actual receipt of the funds by the student.  As long as you started the refund process within 14 days I think you are OK.

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Scott Rosen
Director of Accounts Receivable Operations
Holy Family University
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Hello Julie,

As others have said, we also do not disburse financial aid until after add/ drop.  For context, our term begins first week or so of September, with add/drop ending one week after classes begin.  Our Financial Aid department then does a "cleanup" period of aid.  Once this is complete, the aid is actually disbursed, which is typically done the first week of October.

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Laura Johnson
Associate Director
Salem State University
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Department of Ed regs do require that you refund the student within 14 days of the credit balance being created. We disburse ahead of the term start (about 1 week before) and begin refunds immediately after so that we do not run into any issue with the 14-day rule. We are an all-graduate student university and we have very few issues with our processing. There are times when students become ineligible but we usually get the refunds back from the students if they leave. 

There are a few things you can do to mitigate:

• Change your disbursement to after classes start or after drop/add so that you don't run into this issue. 
• You can regularly send banking requirements to students who are not set up for electronic refunds when they show a credit balance (proactive notice). This may allow you to refund immediately when the time comes (day 12). 
• Process refunds immediately after you disburse. There is a risk here of issuing to a student who may not ultimately be seated/eligible. It is important that you know the behavior of your student population. If they are likely not to start classes or pay back a refund, this may not be ideal. 

I hope this helps. 

Thanks,

Shanelle

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Shanelle Brewster
Director, Student Accounts
Kansas City University
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Hi Julie, We split our graduate and undergraduate drawdowns and refunds. We refund graduate students (6,000) about a week before classes start. Yes, there a couple of students who are issued a refund and then drop classes and we have to collect. The percentage of those that are sent to our collection agencies is minimal. We refund undergrads (11,000) after the drop add period. This gives our cashiers the time needed to review and refund the credits. 

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John Campbell
Assistant Vice President Finance & Bursar
Loyola University Chicago
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