Refunds and Account Adjustments

Registration changes, performed within the time period that online registration is open, may be done through Banner.

If you decide to add or drop courses outside of the normal registration deadlines, you must notify the Office of the Registrar in writing by completing a Registration Petition, found on the Office of the Registrar website. To reference a current listing of registration deadlines, see the Academic Calendar. Registration Petitions need to be accompanied by a student statement and support/permission from your department or a faculty member. 

If you plan to withdraw from University housing (i.e., cancel the room and meal plan contract), you must give proper notification to University Services. If you completely withdraw from the University, you must inform Safety and Security to be eligible for a refund of your parking fees.

If you do not provide proper notification to the University, financial obligations will remain binding, regardless of whether classes were attended or whether or not any of the contracted services were utilized.

Refunds or additional charges for courses are posted to your student account when the official Registration Petition is received and processed or the transaction is completed using Banner. Charges for added courses are made at the full quarter’s rate, regardless of when the course is added.

If a student has a credit balance on their account (for example, due to an over payment), then the student or the student’s authorized parent or legal representative may request a refund. In most cases, all eligible refunds will be remitted to the student.

If there is an owing balance on the account or a past-due balance on a campus-based loan program, including the SPU Institutional, Federal Perkins, and/or Federal Nursing Student Loan programs, in most cases, the refund will first be applied against the owing balance.

In the event that enrollment changes result in a refund, tuition will be refunded according to the schedule that follows. 

Any questions regarding tuition refunds should be directed to Student Financial Services.

Schedule of tuition refunds for classes

Refund schedule for the regular academic year — Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters

• First week of the quarter: 100%
• Second week of the quarter: 75%
• Third week of the quarter: 50%
• Fourth and fifth weeks of the quarter: 25%
• Sixth and following weeks of the quarter: 0%

Note: A week is defined as five business days beginning on the first day of each quarter. Specific dates for refunds are available on the Academic Calendar.

Summer and September Session refund schedules

If you wish to withdraw from one or more summer or September Session courses, you must officially withdraw from the course(s) in Self-Service Banner. The deadline to drop a summer course is listed in the Important Dates section of the Summer Sessions website. Drop deadlines for September Session courses are listed on the September Session website.

• Go to Banner > Student Menu > Registration and Class Schedules Menu > Class Registration and Planning > Register for Classes > Choose the "drop" or "withdraw" option for the appropriate course and click submit.

Please see the Summer and September Session Refund Schedules below. The date the withdrawal is submitted in Self-Service Banner determines the amount of the refund. If you do not drop on the web, your financial obligations will remain binding.

You may not drop a class after the withdrawal deadline or after the course has ended.

Seven- or eight-week sessions

• Week 1: 100%
• Week 2: 50 %

Three- or four-week sessions

• Week 1: 100%
• After Week 1: 0%

Short sessions

• By second class: 100%
• After second class: 0%

Effect on financial aid and Satisfactory Academic Progress

Dropping courses may affect your current and continued eligibility for financial aid. Please refer to the Satisfactory Academic Progress section under Financial Aid. It is recommended that you discuss the impact of dropping below 12 credits with your Student Financial Services counselor prior to completing the drop or withdrawal process.

Complete withdrawal

If, during a quarter, a student who receives financial aid completely withdraws from the University, the tuition refund is calculated as described above. However, if the student received, or was entitled to receive, any federal (Title IV) funds, the return of the Title IV funds will be calculated by determining the percentage earned and applying this percentage to the total amount of Title IV assistance disbursed (and that could have been disbursed) to the student for the period of enrollment as of the student’s withdrawal date. The percentage of Title IV funds earned is equal to the percentage of the period of enrollment that the student completed as of the withdrawal date if it occurs on or before the completion of 60 percent of the period of enrollment. The percentage of Title IV funds that have not been earned by the student is determined by taking the complement of the percentage of Title IV funds earned.

The unearned Title IV funds will be returned to financial aid sources based on federal guidelines in the following order:

• Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan
• Federal Direct Subsidized loan
• Federal Direct PLUS loan
• Federal Pell grants
• Federal SEOG
• Other Title IV Aid programs, such as the TEACH Grant

Other state, private, or institutional aid will be assessed based on state calculations and/or the amount of refund a student receives. 

Title IV Refund Policy

Tuition Refund Policy

Drop in credits

If you receive financial aid and drop courses to below a 12-credit load during a given quarter, a reassessment of your financial aid award may be made for that quarter. This may affect the amount actually credited to your account. Contact a Student Financial Services counselor for further information.

Room and meal plan refunds

*The first week of the quarter begins the day residence halls officially open and ends the Monday after the first day of classes. Each successive week runs Tuesday through Monday.

ADJUSTMENTS FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY

SPU may determine, in its discretion, that due to government guidance or health and safety considerations, changes should be made to the method of delivering course content or related academic services, or to the scheduling of extracurricular activities. Such changes may include, but are not limited to, a full or partial campus closure, transitioning in-person courses to remote learning, reducing the number of class sessions, or deferring or canceling extracurricular events and activities. Students enrolled in SPU classes are not entitled to any refunds for tuition or fees as a result of any changes to the method of delivery of course content or academic services, or cancellation of classes or activities, so long as SPU still offers academic credit for courses. Moreover, any discretionary decision by SPU to provide a refund in a particular instance does not create a right to a refund in any other instance.