Refund of Tuition
Tuition charges are based on the student’s declared major and the total number of credit hours in which a student is enrolled on the first day of classes (as listed in the college calendar). Refunds or tuition adjustments will be awarded according to the following guidelines:
- If circumstances prevent matriculation before a student begins attending the college, all monies above the application fee will be refunded. The application fee will be refunded only if requested within three days of application.
- A tuition adjustment will be made when a student officially drops below 10 hours (9 hours or less) during the drop/add period. Official withdrawal is achieved by submitting a completed drop/add form to the Registrar. No adjustments will be made for students dropping individual classes after the drop/add period. The quarterly technology fee is non-refundable.
- A full tuition adjustment will be made when a student cancels or drops all classes before the drop/add deadline in any full quarter term. For students whose initial enrollment occurs on a mid-quarter term, a full tuition adjustment will be made when a student cancels or withdraws from all classes in that initial term of enrollment. In both situations, any term or course related fees associated with classes canceled or dropped prior to the drop/add date will also be adjusted from the account. If a student used a book allowance to purchase text books and receives the textbooks, the charge for books will remain on the account.
State Refund Policy
For a student who withdraws from the college, the state refund policy will apply as follows:
- If after classes have commenced and before expiration of ten percent (10%) of the period of enrollment for which he or she has been charged, a student officially withdraws, the refund shall equal seventy-five percent (75%) of all amounts paid to or to be paid by or on behalf of the student for the period, less administrative fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00).
- If after expiration of the ten percent (10%) of the period of enrollment for which he or she has been charged, and before expiration of twenty-five percent (25%) of the period, a student officially withdraws, the refund shall equal twenty-five percent (25%) of all amounts paid or to be paid by or on behalf of the student for the period, less administrative fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00).
- If after expiration of twenty-five percent (25%) of the period of enrollment for which he or she was charged, a student officially withdraws, the student is deemed obligated for one hundred percent (100%) of the tuition, fees, and other charges assessed by the institution.
Return of Title IV Funds
For Title IV (federal financial aid) recipients who withdraw from enrollment, the college is mandated by federal regulation to determine the amount of Title IV funds the student has earned at the time the student ceases enrollment. The amount earned is based on the amount of calendar days in the term completed by the student divided by the number of calendar days in the same term, excluding any scheduled breaks of at least five (5) consecutive days. The amount earned is based on the amount of time the student has spent enrolled and is not related to the student’s institutional charges. The amount of Title IV funds earned is based upon a proportional calculation through sixty percent (60%) of the term enrolled. The college will utilize the following steps in order to determine the amount of Title IV a student who withdraws has earned:
- Determine the date of withdrawal and determine the percentage of payment period (term) in which the student was enrolled.
- Determine the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student by multiplying the total Title IV aid for which the student was eligible by the percentage of time enrolled.
- Compare the amount earned to the amount disbursed. If the amount earned is greater than the amount disbursed, then a post-withdrawal disbursement must be made if the student is eligible for a “late disbursement.” If the amount disbursed exceeds the amount earned, the excess of Title IV aid must be returned.
- Allocate the responsibility for returning unearned aid between the college and the student according to the portion of disbursed aid that could have been used to cover institutional charges and the portion that could have been disbursed directly to the student once institutional charges were covered.
- Distribute the unearned Title IV aid back to the Title IV programs.
Examples of Return to Title IV and refund calculations may be obtained through the office of financial aid.
Order of Refunds
Should a student withdraw from the institution, any amount of refund will be returned to the Title IV, HEA program funds, including the Pell Grant program, and then to other sources of aid up to the full amount received from the programs.
South College is required to return Title IV funds to the programs from which the student receives aid during the payment period, up to the net amount disbursed from each source, in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
- Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans
- Federal Perkins Loans
- Federal PLUS Loans
- Federal Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- Academic Competitiveness Grant
- National SMART Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Other assistance awarded to the student under programs authorized by Title IV
- Required refunds to other federal, state, private, or institutional student financial assistance awarded to the student
- To the student
The current refund policy applies to all causes of withdrawal including injury, prolonged illness, or other circumstances that prohibit completion of the course or program of study.
Return of Military Tuition Assistance Program Funds
For students participating in the Military Tuition Assistance Program, the College will use the state refund policy for the designated campus to determine the amount of Tuition Assistance Program funds a student has earned when he or she ceases attendance based on the period the student was in attendance. For students in online programs, the refund policy will be based on that of the State of Tennessee, not by the state of residence of the student. The only exclusion will be for military students who are deployed during a payment period, and then the Student Deployment Policy will be used.