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. More information is found in the Withdrawal section of our Tuition and Fee refund policy webpage.

All external loans are sent to the University electronically by the loaning banks. Students are not required to come in and sign their checks.

Students that do not get their loan information submitted and approved in a timely manner may be charged a $100 late fee for missing the first payment deadline, and/or will have a delayed refund of credit if their loan is not received by the University before the payment deadline.

External scholarships must be received by Scholarship Services, who must report the scholarship in conjunction with the Financial Aid Office. Once this process is complete, the scholarship check will be brought to the Business Office. If the check is made out to WT, the check will be applied to the student account as soon as possible. If the check is made out to the student, the student will be contacted to come in and sign the check over. Distance students will have the check mailed to them for signature, then they must mail it back to our office.

Students that do not come to sign their checks in a timely manner may be charged a $100 late fee for missing the payment deadline, and/or will have a delayed refund of credit. Please be sure that phone numbers are current with The Office of the Registrar so that we can reach you.

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.