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When you receive financial aid, it's designed to help cover your educational expenses. Sometimes, the amount of aid disbursed to your student account exceeds your direct university charges, resulting in a financial aid credit balance. This balance is the money remaining after your tuition, fees, and on-campus housing costs have been paid, and it can be refunded to you.

What is a Financial Aid Credit Balance?

Financial aid awards are typically disbursed electronically to your university student account, as specified in your FAFSA form. To ensure timely disbursement, you generally need to register on time for the minimum number of credits required by your financial aid program(s) and complete all necessary paperwork.

Once your award amount is disbursed, it's first applied to your tuition, fees, and on-campus room and housing expenses. If the aid amount is less than your total charges, your account will show a remaining balance due. However, if your aid amount is greater than your total expenses, your account will show a credit balance.

It's important to note that financial aid expenses can vary from term to term, and current aid amounts generally cannot be used to pay for charges from a previous term. Federal regulations also specify that financial aid can only be used to pay certain institutional charges unless you provide specific authorization. For instance, financial aid typically does not cover charges like long-distance telephone calls, late registration fees, late payment fees, library fines, or aviation training costs without your explicit consent.

How Do You Claim Your Financial Aid Balance?

The Financial Aid Office and Student Accounting Services Office work closely to ensure the timely delivery of aid amounts to students. A credit balance is the amount of money, usually from financial aid, that remains after all of a student's direct university charges are paid in full.

If you are expecting a financial aid balance check, especially for the Fall Semester, and have not received it, you should contact the Office of Admissions and Student Financial Aid. Failure to do so could result in the cancellation of your Spring Semester financial aid. Fall Semester financial aid balance checks are typically mailed during the first week of classes.

Financial aid awards are usually determined based on full-time enrollment. If you enroll as a part-time student, your award amount will be adjusted accordingly. Credit balance checks are mailed to the address you have on file with the Registrar's Office, so ensure your contact information is up-to-date.

To receive a credit balance reimbursement, you generally need to be registered for the number of credits for which your financial aid was calculated, and your student account must accurately reflect all charges related to your Cost of Attendance for the concerned term. Reimbursement will be processed once you have met these necessary criteria.

How Are Credit Balance Funds Disbursed?

When a student account is overpaid, credit balance funds are created to reimburse students. The method of refunding typically depends on how the overpayment occurred or your student status: