Subscribe To This Site

"Where is My Refund" Answers

The answer to your "where is my refund?" question will vary from school to school (within limits). It can also depend upon what type of financial aid refund you are getting. If you are waiting for a refund from a private student loan, you should know that for these loans, your school sets it's own guidelines for when and how funds are delivered to their students.

But for federal financial aid there are some government regulations that schools must follow.

Before your school can apply any funds from federal aid to tuition or fees, they must notify you of the amounts and types of aid you will be receiving, and the date that the money will be disbursed to cover these charges.

They can notify you electronically (rather than by mail) as long as you have voluntarily agreed to that type of transaction.

In order for your school to hold a financial aid credit balance ("Where is my refund?") they must have your authorization to do so. Otherwise, all federal student aid credit balances (or refunds) must be directly paid to the student within this period:

fourteen days after the balance shows up in your school account, if it was credited after the first day of classes for the pay period;

fourteen days after the first day of classes, if it was credited on or before the first day of classes for that pay period

And the school cannot pay itself using student financial aid, without also crediting the student's school account with the excess funds. If you think your school has violated federal regulations regarding credit balances you can call 1-800-433-7327.

How To Get My Refund/What Are My Rights?

Your school needs your voluntary consent to pay you by any other method than cash or check. Many schools have a policy where they use an electronic transfer of funds into a bank account which you have established, or which they open in your name. Even if this is their official policy, they must still pay you by cash or check if you demand it.

Your school cannot charge you a fee for getting your refund. If they give you a debit card or an ATM card (for instance) to access the money, there cannot be a fee for the cash withdrawal. And they cannot give you your refund in the form of any type of credit card.

If the source of the refund is a Parent PLUS loan, your school must give it directly to the parent, unless they agree (in writing) that it can be signed over to the student.

Your refund of financial aid funds cannot be garnished by a third-party (excepting your school for current year charges or the Department of Education to satisfy a debt).

Your school cannot hold your refund to pay charges from previous years that total more than $200.

"Where is My Refund Check?"

If your school notifies you (within the appropriate 14 day time frame) that your refund is waiting for you to pick up, they cannot send you home empty-handed when you show up. They cannot tell you that your check will be mailed for instance, or that there was some sort of clerical error and you should come back on Tuesday. By law, they are obligated to give you the money (in one form or another) if they tell you to come and get it.

And if you do get such a notice, your school must keep the funds there for you to pick up within the 14 days (but they are allowed to keep it up to 21 days). If you do not pick it up within 21 days, then they must mail it to you.

These regulations have been in effect since 2007, but the Department of Education is tracking violations and holding schools accountable now.

If you take out a federal college loan instead of a private student loan you are less likely to be asking, "Where is my refund?" Schools are required by law to complete these transactions in a reasonable amount of time, and they are liable for their errors.

return from where is my refund to federal student loans

return to top of where is my refund, or return to college loan consultant home