Refunds

Establishing the Date of the Student's Withdrawal from School

To calculate a tuition refund or a financial aid refund or repayment, Student Financial Services establishes the student’s withdrawal date as follows:

1. If the student officially withdraws, the date of withdrawal is used.
2. If the student withdraws unofficially (drops out without properly notifying the school), the student’s last recorded date of class attendance is used. The student’s last recorded date of class attendance is determined, documented, and confirmed by the instructor, the vice president for student administration, or the Academic Records Office.
3. If the student is expelled, the date of expulsion is used.

The Academic Records Office provides Student Financial Services with lists of students who have dropped all classes or dropped to less than six credit hours.

Undergraduate Tuition Refunds

If a student withdraws from school after the fifth day of the quarter, the following tuition refund policy will apply:

¹ Students dropping all classes during this period will be charged a processing fee of $75 or 5% of tuition, whichever is less.

² Students adding or dropping classes after the first five days of the quarter will be charged a change-of-registration fee of $30 per change.

If a student drops a class and adds a class of the same number of credits on the same day, no tuition adjustment is made. This is called a "wash" and these classes are excluded from all calculations. However, if the student later drops the class that was added, this transaction is no longer considered a "wash" and may result in a tuition charge when the class is dropped. Note: dropping 2 two-credit classes and adding 1 four-credit class is not a "wash."

Tuition adjustments for class changes are processed based on the date each change is received in the Academic Records Office. Tuition is calculated by processing the adds and drops in date order, beginning with the 1st day of the quarter, using the date each change is received. For each class dropped or added, the tuition for the number of credits before the transaction is subtracted from the tuition for the number of credits enrolled after the transaction. Added classes are charged 100% tuition (tuition is not discounted for joining a class late), excluding “washed” classes.

Each time students change their class schedule, their tuition is completely re-calculated, based on all of their classes for the term, not just the current adjustment to the class schedule. The new Total Tuition Charges is compared to the student's previously charged tuition amounts, and a charge or credit is issued to their student account for the difference.

When dropped classes are processed, the refund percentage is applied against the difference of the two amounts: The tuition for the number of credits before the drop, and the tuition for the number of credits after processing the drop. Because of the way tuition adjustments are calculated, a student who started with 12-16 credits ("bracket" tuition) and ends with 12-16 credits may be charged additional tuition.

Tuition Adjustment Examples

Adding or dropping any classes after registration necessitates a tuition adjustment. That adjustment may be in the form of a charge or a refund or both, as shown in the following examples.

Example 1

A student registers for 16 credit hours and drops three during the first five days.

TUITION ADJUSTMENT

Because the tuition rate is the same for 12 to 16 credit hours—the “bracketed tuition rate”—there is no adjustment to the amount of tuition charged.

Example 2

A student registers for 13 credit hours and drops three during the first five days.

TUITION REFUND

There is a 100% tuition refund on the difference between the tuition charged for 10 credit hours and the bracketed tuition rate. The refund is calculated as follows:

Example 3

A student registers for 15 credit hours and drops all classes during the fourth week.

TUITION ADJUSTMENT

A 50% refund is due on the bracketed tuition and is calculated as follows:

Because these changes were made after the fifth day of the quarter, a change-of-registration fee of $30 per change is also applied to the student’s account.

Example 4

A student registers for 14 credit hours. On the 10th day of the quarter, the student drops a one credit class and a two credit class and adds a one credit class and a three credit class. The student is now registered for 15 credits.

TUITION ADJUSTMENT

The added one-hour class “washes” with the dropped one-hour class and no adjustment is made. Then the three-hour class is added and a tuition charge of $734 is calculated (going from 14 credits to 17 credits puts the student outside of “bracket” tuition). Next, the two-hour drop is processed. The difference between the tuition before and after the drop is $734 This is multiplied by 75 percent to give a credit of $550.50. The difference between the $734 charge for adding the 3 credit class and the $550.50 refund for dropping the two-hour class results in a net tuition charge of $183.50.

Because these changes were made after the fifth day of the quarter, a change-of-registration fee of $30 per change is also applied to the student’s account.

Example 5

A student registers for 10 credit hours, drops two credit hours on the sixth day of classes, and adds three on the 10th day.

TUITION ADJUSTMENTS

Because the student did not make these changes on the same day, each change is processed separately, and the dropped credit hours cannot cancel out any of the added credit hours. Therefore, the student’s tuition must be adjusted as follows:

Also, because these changes were made after the fifth day of the quarter, a change-of-registration fee of $30 per change ($60 total) is applied to the student’s account.

Example 6

A student registers for 18 credit hours and drops 7 credit hours during the 50 percent period. After the last day to add a class, the student petitions to add 7 credit hours. The petition is approved.

TUITION ADJUSTMENTS

The student did not make these changes during registration, in a single day, or within the same refund period. Therefore, the changes are processed separately, and the dropped credit hours cannot cancel out the added credit hours. The student will be refunded 50% for the classes dropped, and when the petition is approved, the tuition will be completely recalculated, with the added classes included before the drop is recalculated. The student's tuition must be adjusted as follows:

Because these changes were made after the fifth day of the quarter, the student is charged a change-of-registration fee of $30 per change ($60 total).

Graduate Refunds

If a graduate student officially withdraws during the quarter, a refund, where applicable, will be made within 30 days. A graduate student who leaves school without completing withdrawal procedures will be charged until proper arrangements have been made. The beginning of the quarter is considered to be the first day of class instruction.

Graduate students withdrawing from classes during the quarter will qualify for the following rates of refund:

A tuition refund may affect awarded financial aid.

^*Graduate students dropping all classes during this period will be charged a processing fee of $50 or 5% of tuition, whichever is less.

For withdrawal and refund schedule for summer classes see the WWU Summer Class Schedule. Please refer to the Financial Aid Refund Policy section of this bulletin for further details.

Residence Hall Room Rent Refunds

Cafeteria Charge Refunds

The refund of a student’s cafeteria meal plan charge is pro-rated according to the same schedule as housing rent.

University Rental Housing Refunds

Students are required to give at least 30 days notice when moving out of university rental housing. Students failing to give proper notice may forfeit up to 30 days rent. The rent refund is prorated, based on the later of the actual check out date and the end of the 30 days notice.

General Fee Refunds

For students who withdraw from school, the General Fee is refunded at the same rate as tuition.

Course Fee Refunds

Some course fees are not eligible for a refund after the fifth day of the quarter. For course fees eligible for a refund, the course fees are refunded at the same rate as tuition.

Music Lesson Fee Refunds

Music lesson fees are refunded based on the number of lessons taken through the fifth week of the quarter, after which no refunds are granted.

Financial Aid Refunds

Dropping a class during the quarter may impact a student’s financial aid for the current quarter and for subsequent quarters. For this reason, students are advised to talk with a Student Financial Services counselor before dropping any classes. (See the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for Financial Aid Recipients and the Financial Aid Refund and Repayment Policy in this bulletin for more information.)

For information on financial aid refunds due in the event of a student’s complete withdrawal from school, refer to the Financial Aid Refund and Repayment Policy in this bulletin.