Graduate Tuition and Fee Refund Policy/Return of Title IV Funds

Course Withdrawals for Graduate Students

Students may drop a course online through the day before a course begins and charges will be reversed.  After the course begins, students may only withdraw from a course and will be assessed a drop registration fee by the Registrar’s Office. Tuition refunds will be calculated in accordance with Messiah University's Graduate Refund Policy and based upon the number of calendar days a student has completed upon the official date of withdrawal. There will be no tuition refunds after the student has completed at least one third of the course.  All requests for withdrawals must be emailed to the Registrar's Office from the student's Messiah email account to gradregistrar@messiah.edu. 

Dropping or withdrawing from a course may reduce a student’s financial aid eligibility.  Students should contact Student Financial Services, gradfinancialserv@messiah.edu,  prior to dropping or withdrawing from a class to find out if their aid will be affected by their decision.

Messiah University Graduate Refund Policy

Refunds for students who withdraw voluntarily or involuntarily are determined, with one exception*, according to the percentage of the semester/part of term completed when a student withdraws from a course. The following chart details the percentages of completion used to calculate the percentage of refunds and offers examples of the most common graduate course delivery models. If the delivery model of a graduate course is not listed below, the refund for such a course will be calculated using the percentage of the semester/part of term that is completed when a student notifies the registrar’s office of the withdrawal.

*If a student withdraws from an on-campus intensive course by 11:59PM EST of the first day of residency, the student will be entitled to a 100% refund (provided the student’s other financial obligations to Messiah University have been met in full).  If a student withdraws from an intensive course at any time after 11:59PM EST of the first day of residency, the student will not be entitled to receive a refund.

Refund Examples

Percent Refund Approximate Percentage of Course Completed 6 Week Course 8 Week Course 12 Week or Summer-long Semester Course Fall or Spring Full Semester Course
100% Up to 7% Day 1-3 Day 1-4 Day 1-6 Day 1-8
75% 13% Day 4-5 Day 5-7 Day 7-11 Day 9-15
60% 20% Day 6-8 Day 8-11 Day 12-17 Day 16-22
50% 27% Day 9-11 Day 12-15 Day 18-23 Day 23-30
25% 33% Day 12-14 Day 16-19 Day 24-28 Day 31-37
0% Over 33% After Day 14 After Day 19 After Day 28 After Day 37

The procedure for a refund is as follows:

  1. A drop occurs within the 100% refund period of the course.  A withdrawal occurs after the initial drop period and after the 100% refund period for a course, and before the final third of the part-of-term.  Students may drop themselves from a course prior to the start date of that class using the online student information system.  Requests to withdraw from a course must be emailed to the Graduate Registrar's Office. The date and time in Eastern Time Zone of the email determines the refund date and amount. Notifying an instructor does not constitute an official request to drop or withdraw from a course.
    1. In addition to the percentage of tuition refund, a withdrawal from class results in the assessment of a fee.  This fee will be added to the student's account.  Any approved exception to the withdrawal date may result in a late fee.
    2. Withdrawn courses are indicated with a "W" (withdraw) on the student's transcript.  This withdrawal grade is not calculated in the grade point average.  After two-thirds of the part-of-term is completed, students are not permitted to withdraw from their course except in cases documented by their physician or employer.
    3. Approval to add, drop, or withdraw from a course once a part-of-term begins results in assessment of a standard processing fee.  Any approved exception for a late add or late withdrawal may result in an additional processing fee.
  2. For courses with a residency component, a full refund will be granted only if the withdrawal is made prior to 11:59PM, EST on the first day of residency.  After the first day of residency, the tuition is non-refundable except for the reasons of 1) illness documented by a physician or 2) employment reasons as documented by an employer, or 3) death of an immediate family member.
  3. Lab, music, private music lesson, and all other course-related fees, as applicable, will not be refunded after completion of 7% of the part-of-term. 
  4. Refunds and adjusted bills will be sent to the student’s home address following withdrawal from the university.  Updated billing statements will be available online for students dropping or withdrawing from courses only.  Students will be notified if their change in enrollment has required an adjustment to their financial aid award.
  5. In accordance with federal regulations, when federal financial aid refunds are involved, the amounts are allocated in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, other Title IV aid programs.
  6. The term “Title IV Funds” refers to the Federal financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1956 (as amended) and includes the following programs: Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, subsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS loans, Federal Pell Grants, Federal SEOG.
  7. Institutional and student responsibilities in regard to the return of the Title IV funds:
    1. Messiah University's responsibilities
      1. Providing each student with the information given in the policy
      2. Identifying students who are affected by the policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students 
      3. Returning any Title IV funds that are due to the Title IV programs
    2. Student’s responsibilities
      1. Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were disbursed directly to the student and which the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return of the Title IV Funds calculation
  8. Other financial aid will be refunded in proportion to and along the same schedule as tuition.  Students may return unused books/materials to Slingshot and receive a refund based on the return date and Slingshot's policies.
  9. Messiah University is not required to pay a credit balance that is less than $1.00.  Credit balances greater than or equal to $1.00 are automatically refunded to the student upon the student’s graduation or separation from the University.  

This policy has been instituted to establish an official withdrawal date, provide a fair and equitable policy for determining refunds for withdrawing students, provide student counseling regarding withdrawal implications, and provide a waiting period at no expense to the student.

 

Maryland Resident Refund Policy

Maryland residents have a unique refund policy for their online courses. If a Maryland resident withdraws or is terminated after completing only a portion of a course or term the following refund applies and supersedes the standard Messiah University Graduate refund policy.

Proportion of total course, program, or term completed as of the date of withdrawal or termination Tuition Refund
Less than 10% 90% Refund
10% up to but not including 20% 80% Refund
20% up to but not including 30% 60% Refund
30% up to but not including 40% 40% Refund
40% up to but not including 60% 20% Refund
More than 60% No Refund

All refunds to Maryland residents shall be based on the date of withdrawal or termination and will be paid within 60 days from the date of withdrawal or termination.

Return of Federal Student Loans

The return of Federal Student loans has a different rate than the University's refund policy:

Return of Title IV Funds applies to a Federal aid recipient who withdraws from or leaves school before completing the payment period or period of enrollment.

  • At Messiah University the period of enrollment for graduate and professional students is a semester.
  • Messiah University will determine the percentage of aid earned by the student by calculating the percentage of the period that the student completed.
    • For credit-hour programs that means the Days Attended/ Days in period = percentage completed.
  • Any unearned funds must be returned. The percentage of loan that a student is allowed to keep may differ from the percentage of tuition remaining on their account per the University's refund policy. This would result in a balance due to the University.

    However, since some graduate programs at Messiah University have multiple parts of term in each semester, there may be situations where a student withdraws from an early part of the term but still plans to attend classes in the latter part of the term.
    • In this case the student is not considered to have withdrawn from the program if the student gives the institution written confirmation that he or she will attend a class in the part of term that begins later in the same payment period or period of enrollment. The situation will change if the student does not attend the class in the later session.
    • This written confirmation must occur at the time that would have been considered a withdrawal.

    Therefore, if a graduate student withdraws from a class or classes part of the way through the early part of the term and gives Messiah University written confirmation (at the time of withdrawal) that they are enrolled in and planning to attend a class or classes in the latter part of the same semester, there is no need to return Federal Direct Loans. However, if the student does not follow-through and attend the later session, the situation would be considered a withdrawal.