Withdrawal and Refund
- When students withdraw from school (will not be attending any classes for the remainder of the semester), tuition and fees are assessed or credited, as appropriate, according to the date the student officially notifies SDSU of intent to withdraw by contacting the SDSU Registrar's Office at 605-688-6195.
- Room charges and meal plans are adjusted according to the check out date from the residence hall and meal plan usage.
- The federal refund policy will be used for all students receiving federal aid. If a student received loan money, the University will calculate the amount of the loan that was "earned" according to the date of withdrawal, following federal Title IV regulations. The unearned portion will be paid back to the lender by the University. This amount paid by the University to the lender will then be charged to the student's University account. If this amount is larger than the credits on the student's account following withdrawal, the student will be required to pay the difference due.
Students who withdrew from classes due to medical, family emergency or other extenuating circumstances at a point where a partial or no refund leaves the student with an unpaid debt or extenuating circumstances that make paying off a debt that is in collections unmanageable may complete a Student Billing Hardship Petition.
Hardship petitions are intended to provide relief to a student and their families where they are in a difficult financial situation due to circumstances beyond their control.
Refunds from Overpayment
- Financial Aid refunds will be processed after the student completes their Attendance Confirmation in Self Service and only if they have a credit balance.
- Refunds for drop/add changes will be refunded after the census date.
- For the Fall semester any additional or second refunds will be processed the third week of September.
- For the Spring semester any additional or second refunds will be processed the first week of February.
- Overpayment with personal funds will be refunded after the census date.
- No refunds are made to the student until all charges are paid.
Refund Processing
Once a refund begins to be generated, the student should receive an email to their Jacks account informing them that it is on its way. Once the process has begun, direct deposited refunds are typically received in 2-3 business days and mailed checks received in 3-5 business days.
What if I don’t cash my refund check?
Refund checks become stale dated after 180 days from issuance and are no longer valid checks.
If a refund check is not cashed within 180 days from issuance and you have a student account balance, a new check will be issued and applied to your student account.
If a refund check is not cashed within 180 days from issuance and you do not have a student account balance, but you do have an active direct deposit account setup, a new check will be issued and a direct deposit will be initiated.
If a refund check is not cashed within 180 days from issuance and you do not have a student account balance, and the refund is a refund of federal loan funds, the funds will be returned to your federal loan via the financial aid office.
Why does my refund show a charge?
A common question as refunds are initiated is “why is my student refund showing as a charge?” It comes down to the accounting principles of debits and credits. When you look at your student account, there are two options – charges and credits.
When you have more credits on your account than charges, it creates a negative balance on your student account, which usually means you are due a refund. We have to somehow indicate on your account that we have refunded that negative balance to you. In order to balance your account and reflect that we have distributed your refund, we must record the refund in the “charges” column.
Even though the value of your refund appears in the charges column, it is NOT an amount you are being “charged”. It is just the way we have to “balance the books.”
Direct Deposit
Direct Deposit is strongly suggested. Direct deposit information can be added or edited by students on Self Service through the "Direct Deposit Refund" link.
- Direct deposited refunds are processed more frequently than refund checks.
- It eliminates the mail time and any delays due to an incorrect mailing address.
Refund Checks
If the student has not set up direct deposit or selected the refund-via-check option during their attendance confirmation, refund checks are automatically processed and mailed to the refund address the student selected during their attendance confirmation. If an address was not specified the check will be sent to their local address.
The Cashier's Office does not cash or hand out refund checks.