Tuition Refund Policy

Refunds of credit owed to students due to personal payment are refunded at different times depending on the cause of the refund. If a student over paid their bill, and remain enrolled, the refund cannot go out before the census date for any payment made before classes began, or within the first week of classes.

The most common reasons for a personal payment refund after paying the bill either partially or in full include

• Dropping a class/classes after payment is made, before the census date
• Removal of housing or meal plan charges by the Office of Residential Living
• Removal of M800 housing exemption charge by the Office of Residential Living
• Application of approved state waiver including but not limited to, Hazlewood, Blind/Deaf, Foster Care/Adopted, Peace Officer, Firefighter

Over payments made after this time must be held for two weeks to be sure they clear the bank. Once the refund has been cleared to be released, it will go out as a paper check IF the student has not set up their account for direct deposit on the Bank Information US link in Buff Advisor.

Refunds owed due to withdrawals are managed on a different time line. Refunds on withdrawals are estimated to take 4 to 6 weeks from the date of the withdrawal to be processed to insure account accuracy. 

The release of the refund depends on what day the credit balance was generated onto the student account, not the day you accepted your Financial Aid award or Scholarship.

*If a student has taken out an Emergency Tuition & Fee Loan or Emergency Book Loan, the loan will be paid back with the refund of credit prior to being released to the student. 

*If a student owes a Past Due balance on their student account, the past due balance will be paid back with the refund of credit prior to being released to the student. If the student is enrolled and current on a Repayment Plan for the past due balance, only at that time will they be able to receive the current terms refund of credit. 

*If a student adjusts their schedule (example: adding a class) after their initial refund has been processed, the student will be responsible for payment on that course. 

Sponsored Billing and Student Athletes- Please see your section below as your credit balance will not be released with the general student disbursements.

Students attending WT through sponsored billing will not receive their refunds in the first seven days of the semester because they require extra review by the Bursar to be sure that the student is not receiving a refund they are not permitted to have from their sponsored billing. Each sponsored billing agency has rules specific to their payment of student bills that must be strictly adhered to or the student is at risk for losing their sponsorship.

Sponsored billing student credits must be held through census (12th class day) to assure that the student has met the requirements of the sponsorship stated in the Letter of Credit.

 Some exceptions apply:

• Sponsorships that do not have an enrollment requirement
• Texas Tuition Promise Fund
• National Service Trust

ACE students do not have their ACE sponsorship applied until after the semester census date, (12th class day for fall and spring, 4th class day for summer 1 and 2). ACE students are permitted to charge their books to their university balance at the University Book Store. The refund process is begun after the 13^th class day in the long semester, 5^th class day in the summer semesters. 

Please be advised: Some ACE students are late in turning in their paperwork to ACE and are not coded at the start of the semester in our system. These students may receive a refund of credit before coding, and before book charges are added to the bill. In these cases, the students must use their refund to pay their book charges which are added to their accounts after the 20th class day for Fall and Spring semesters. Please be sure to submit your documents to ACE so that you are coded in a timely manner.

State of Texas students may be eligible for a tuition rebate if they meet eligibility requirements set forth by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Students must fill out and submit the Tuition Rebate Checklist and Form when they apply for graduation.

The rebate can take up to three months to be processed due to the procedures of the tuition rebate process. Students that are eligible for a rebate but have outstanding federal loan debt will be notified that their rebate was sent to their loan servicer to help pay down their loan debt. For more information, please see the Office of the Registrar policy page.

RN to BSN students may be eligible for a tuition rebate if they meet eligibility requirements set forth by the Department of Nursing at WTAMU. The rebate process can take up to three months due to the procedures required for this process. Please see the RN to BSN webpage for further information.