Refunds
E-Refunds
Enrollment Services encourages all students to authorize direct deposit of their student account credit balances into a checking or savings account. Taking advantage of this opportunity eliminates the need to stand in line at The HUB to pick up a refund check. Enrolling for E-Refund only takes a moment and all that is needed is the student's checking or savings account information. Enroll now.
Student Account Refunds
Students who are issued a paper check for a student account refund have six months to cash the check. Otherwise, it will have to be re-issued to the student, unless there is an outstanding balance on the student account.
Title IV Authorizations & Excess Funds
Title IV aid is federal aid that is awarded to a student as a result of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and submitting required documents to verify a student's eligibility for this aid. Title IV aid consists of the following:
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
- National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant
- Federal Direct Perkins Loan
- Federal Direct Loan
- Federal Direct PLUS Loan
- Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
A Title IV authorization allows Carnegie Mellon to apply a student's excess Title IV funds to non-institutional charges such as course materials, library and parking fines, other fees, penalties, and prior-year charges, up to $200. The student must authorize the application of these funds to non-institutional charges. If the student does not complete this authorization, the students will be required to pay for these charges.
Students can gain access to this authorization on Student Information Online. Go to "Finances" and click on "Federal Aid Authorizations."
Title IV Refunds
Excess Title IV funds occur when a student's Title IV aid fund disbursements exceed allowable institutional charges. Allowable institutional charges include: tuition, fees, and housing and dining charges billed by Carnegie Mellon. The excess amount is refunded to the student, unless the credit balance is the result of a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan, then it is refunded to the parent borrower.
Students can use E-Refund to authorize a direct deposit of their excess Title IV funds to a designated refund account.
Carnegie Mellon will refund all Title IV credit balances as you authorize, but is required to issue you a refund at the end of an academic year. Please refer to the Department of Education's requirement for this refund:
34CFR 668.165 (6) (b) (5) (iii): Because Title IV funds are awarded to students to pay current year charges, notwithstanding any authorization from the student or parent, any remaining Title IV credit balance of Federal Student Aid funds remaining by the end of the last payment period in the award year for which they were awarded must be refunded.
Refund Procedure
Refunds can only be initiated by Student Accounts. If you enrolled in E-Refund, the refund will be automatically deposited to the designated bank account within three business days. Otherwise, we notify the student via e-mail after a refund check is generated and available for pick up at The HUB.
During the fall and spring semesters, Student Accounts automatically generates refund checks to enrolled students when their student account indicates a credit balance greater than $20.
However, when the student's credit balance results from one of the following transactions, an individual review of the student's account is done before a refund is released:
1. Receipt of a Federal Direct PLUS Loan - In this case, we will either process the refund to the parent or to the student (if the parent authorizes us to do so).
2. Sponsorship from a third party, receipt of employee remission of tuition or payroll deduction.
Please be aware that Carnegie Mellon will not issue refunds from your student account if you overbudget the Carnegie Mellon Tuition Payment Plan for any semester. The payment plan should only be used to pay for Carnegie Mellon charges, such as tuition and fees, in installments. You should only include room and board costs in your payment plan if they are billed to you by Carnegie Mellon. If you are not living in university housing, you should make other payment arrangements for room and board.
Refunds during the summer are only processed at the request of the student or where required by federal regulation.